From the bestselling author of Tenth of December comes a splendid
new edition of his acclaimed collaboration with the illustrator behind
The Stinky Cheese Man and James and the Giant Peach! Featuring
fifty-two haunting and hilarious images, The Very Persistent Gappers of
Frip is a modern fable for people of all ages that touches on the power
of kindness, generosity, compassion, and community.
In the seaside village of Frip live three families: the Romos, the
Ronsens, and a little girl named Capable and her father. The economy of
Frip is based solely on goat's milk, and this is a problem because the
village is plagued by gappers: bright orange, many-eyed creatures the
size of softballs that love to attach themselves to goats. When a gapper
gets near a goat, it lets out a high-pitched shriek of joy that puts the
goats off giving milk, which means that every few hours the children of
Frip have to go outside, brush the gappers off their goats, and toss
them into the sea. The gappers have always been everyone's problem,
until one day they get a little smarter, and instead of spreading out,
they gang up: on Capable's goats. Free at last of the tyranny of the
gappers, will her neighbors rally to help her? Or will they turn their
backs, forcing Capable to bear the misfortune alone?
Featuring fifty-two haunting and hilarious illustrations by Lane Smith
and a brilliant story by George Saunders that explores universal themes
of community and kindness, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip is a
rich and resonant story for those that have all and those that have not.
Praise for The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip
"In a perfect world, every child would own a copy of this profound,
funny fable. . . . Every adult would own a copy too, and would marvel at
how this smart, subversive little book is even deeper and more hilarious
than any child could know."--Entertainment Weekly
"Saunders's idiosyncratic voice makes an almost perfect accompaniment to
children's book illustrator Smith's heightened characterizations and
slightly surreal backdrops."--Publishers Weekly
"A riveting, funny, and sly new fairy tale."--Miami Herald
