What makes a great children's book? It's that combination of words and pictures, action and magic, that you find in this desert story. This is such a creative and surprising tale. It starts out scary - describing all the things in the dessert at night that prowl and sneak. And then all of those creatures come to a group of travelers, one by one, and dance with a little boy. I cannot recommend this book more highly. Each page is a new adventure with a new animal, and it's the perfect length to keep your child interested.

Girls as well as boys listen with close attention. As there are too few books which leave the girls and the boys satisfied,I treasured it in my classroom as well as at home.

I might warn new teachers: beware, someone may bring a pet rabbit for the class after reading it! That is a great experience but has real pitfalls! Mrs Mac

This is not an easy book. Hamilton challenges her readers. Still, for children who like to read, this book is terrific.

Onion John is the kindly-given nickname of a man from Eastern Europe, whose English is undecipherable to everyone but Andy--who has to work at understanding his speech, until he discovers the trick of translating John's gutteral tongue and bizarre (medieval) ideas.

The boy, with no more ambition than to become a shopkeeper in New Jersey, becomes a companion to the strange but friendly hermit; they combine forces and enthusaism as they attempt to produce first rain, then gold. Onion John knows the rites to ward off "evil" spirits, to protect innocent workers, and even to fumigate an entire town. But does Serenity Need to be fumigated out of its expansive good will and generous desire to improve

John's living conditions--dragging him into the 20th century against his will? There is NO black magic, just European folklore and superstition. This is a simple, down home story about a boy who views his dad as a hero and his adult friend as a victim. Serious themes with elements of humor and touching family values.

The events that take place in Krumgolds' Onion John would probably never happen today. For instance, if a homeless man dressed in a strange coat and reeking of onions approached me on the street and spoke in a foreign language, I would not stop to wonder, If I listened long enough, would he start making sense? No! I would walk away - quickly. Not Andrew J. Rusch, Jr. He stops and really listens to Onion John, leading to their friendship and, eventually, the concern and care of their home town, Serenity. I enjoyed the interesting ideas Onion John had; for example, making rain with a parade and driving ghosts and evil spirits away with smells. I also like the part of the story that dealt with the "race to space" and Andy's dad's desire for Andy to get to the moon. I tend to prefer more adventurous stories or stories with a little more "action," which is why I chose to give Onion John four stars.