What's Everybuggy Reading: Spider
Leopold, the Liar of Leipzig
by Francine Prose
Joanna Cotler Books, 2005
Sometimes I tell everybuggy that Miro’s food tastes gross just so I can eat it all myself. And the other day I told Sonya that the wind made her wings all ruffled just to watch her freak out. Of course, Ophelia always has to ruin my fun by telling me that lying is wrong.
Boy, have I got news for Ophelia! Turns out, it’s only actually lying sometimes—other times its called storytelling. You read in this month’s Spider about the town of storytellers in “Hannah’s First Story” (pp. 15-21). In this book a guy named Leopold is the storyteller of his town. He tells stories about crazy faraway places like Lusitana where all the ladies look like lizards, and Carthaginia where the cats cook caterpillar casseroles (do NOT tell Sam!). So obviously, when Doctor Doctor Professor Morgenfressor comes to town and talks about regular places like China and Egypt, everyone thinks it’s super boring. So the professor tells the town that Leopold’s stories aren’t real—so everyone thinks Leopold is a liar!
Will the citizens of Leipzig ever figure out the difference between storytelling and lying so Leopold can keep telling awesome stories? I sure hope so—I can’t get enough of them! Now that I’ve read about Leopold’s sticky situation, I think it’s safe to say that Spidie the Stupendous is simply a stellar storyteller!
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Spider, I like storytelling. I don't think of it as lying, but a story . . . a very creative story that's all my own. I like this website, and your book is the best. I've read a book just like that, and it's very good!
(March 5th, 2011 - 6:21 pm)