Module 9 – Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

Module 9 – Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?:

and Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries

by David Levinthal and John Nickle

Book Summary

Did Humpty Dumpty really just fall off that wall, or was he pushed? Police detective Binky investigates Humpty’s accident and other fairy tale crimes. Five classic tales are retold in the style of a 1940s noir detective novel-for kids!

APA Reference of Book

Levinthal, D. and Nickle, J. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?:and other notorious nursery tale mysteries. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade.

My Impressions

I have always enjoyed fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Some of my earliest memories are of my grandmother telling me stories such as Three Billy Goats Gruff and Goldilocks. In first grade I received a copy of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales and it was read over and over again. I also remember watching TV and seeing comedians do humorous re-imaginings of fairy tales such as "RinderCella" who "Slopped her dripper". So it was only natural that fractured fairy tales would also become a favorite. And this books combines the fractured fairy tale with a take on the noir detective stories!  There could not be a better mix. The stories are great - especially Detective Binky as the hero - but the illustrations make the book.  They are gorgeous and oh-so-slightly creepy.

What the Professionals Say

A little wisp of a toad named Binky has seen it all, or so he thinks. The black-suited detective (Pinecone Division) gets called to finger the perp in a series of cases, from the blonde porridge-eater troubling the Bear family and the kids who took down the candy house deep in the woods to the piggie who lost his temper with Humpty and an apple-poisoning, mirror-obsessed judge of a beauty pageant. Kids will certainly be familiar with all these stories, and Levinthal supplies just enough of a twist with each one to make them fresh again without necessarily reinventing any of them. What’ll really stop kids in their tracks, though, is Nickle’s acrylic artwork. His sophisticated touch is as equally suited to the dramatic, black-and-white re-creations of the crimes as it is to the cheeky scenes of Binky gumshoeing about with various woodland creatures. Hook this one up with Margie Palatini’s The Web Files (2001) and Jeanie Franz Ransom’s What Really Happened to Humpty? (2009) for a soft-boiled shamus storytime. Grades K-3. --Ian Chipman

Chipman, I. 2012 Setpember 15 [Review of the book Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?:and Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries by D. Levinthal and J. Nickle]. Booklist.  Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Who-Pushed-Humpty-Dumpty-And-Other-Notorious-Nursery-Tale-Mysteries-David-Levinthal/pid=5438130

A Suggestion for Use in a Library Setting

I would hold a “Nursery Crime” mystery program at the library for tweens. First we would have a sort of Jeopardy-like trivia contest to see how much they know about the original fairy tales and nursery rhymes we would be studying. Then we would read several “fractured fairy tales” books, including Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?: and Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries. As a closing activity, I would give them the opportunity to create their own fractured fairy tales or nursery crime stories using a template.