The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or The Hithering Thithering Djinn is a 1971 children's book written by Donald Barthelme. It tells the story of a girl who enters a magical house that appears in her backyard and the characters she meets inside.[1] Barthelme collected the visuals used in the book from 19th-century engravings and then constructed the story around the visuals.[2][3]
One morning in 1887, a young girl named Matilda awakens to find a miniature house has appeared magically in her backyard. As she approaches to look inside, the house expands large enough for her to enter. Hoping to find a fire engine toy, she is greeted at the entrance by two doormen. Inside, she meets a rainmaker, a pirate, and the titular djinn, who guides her through the house. Matilda leaves when she hears her nurse calling and asks if the house will be there tomorrow; the djinn says no, but he will leave her a gift before the house leaves. The next morning, Matilda finds a green Silsby fire engine in the yard.
Reception
Despite winning the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1973,[4] the book was controversial, with one of the judges saying it was "not a notable piece of literature for children".[2] The Boston Globe's review questioned whether the book was the best of the year,[2] and the New York Times said the visuals, with few exceptions, do "nothing but confuse the child reader" and failed to meet a "child's need for a realized story"[3]Jabari Asim had higher praise years after release, saying in 2006 that the book had "much that will surprise and please" children.[5]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
