The Pushcart War

(Paperback, Main)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This is the 50th Anniversary Edition. Do you know the history of the pushcart war The Real history It's a story of how regular people banded together and, armed with little more than their brains and good aim, defeated a mighty foe. Not long ago the streets of New York City were smelly, smoggy, sooty, and loud. There were so many trucks making deliveries that it might take an hour for a car to travel a few blocks. People blamed the truck owners and the truck owners blamed the little wooden pushcarts that traveled the city selling everything from flowers to hot dogs. Behind closed doors, the truck owners declared war on the pushcart peddlers. Carts were smashed from Chinatown to Chelsea. The peddlers didn't have money or the mayor on their side, but that didn't stop them from fighting back. They used pea shooters to blow tacks into the tires of trucks, they outwitted the police, and they marched right up to the grilles of those giant trucks and dared them to drive down their streets. Today, thanks to the ingenuity of the pushcart peddlers, the streets belong to the people - and to the pushcarts. The Pushcart War was first published fifty years ago. It has inspired generations of children and been adapted for television, radio, and the stage around the world. It was included on School Library Journal's list of "One Hundred Books That Shaped the Twentieth Century," and its assertion that a committed group of men and women can prevail against a powerful force is as relevant in the twenty-first century as it was in 1964.

Reviews

The Pushcart War had a profound impact on me; when I was a kid I devoured it several times, and Ive carried it deep inside me ever since. The book gave me a point of entrancemy first, I imagineinto the world of resistance to political and economic injustice and chicanery. It made opposition, even nonviolent civil disobedience, seem fun and right and necessary and heroic, and something even someone as powerless as a kid could and should undertake.Tony Kushner

Finally, parents can get their hands on new copies of the best book about politics ever written for children. . . . This lively, lovely novel is an argument for staying hopeful about the possibility of bringing about change, even when you are going up against entrenched and powerful interests.Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post

A book about friendship and sticking together and sticking up for yourself, especially against The Man. Plus itll just make you feel all warm and fuzzy.Emily Temple, Flavorwire

This is one of the great childrens classics. . . . Part of its charm is its oldNew York quaintness, but the exciting story, set in the pressure-cooker of city traffic, is timeless.Sonja Bolle, Newsday

Merrills story, full of unexpected reversals and understated witticisms, feels exceptionally modern. And by the endafter the two sides have hammered out a peaceful and deeply reasonable compromiseone can only hope that well catch up to Merrills future one day.Adam Mansbach, NPR, You Must Read This

This is satire on almost every conceivable aspect of modern urban life. . . .To all it should be funny, and to many it will have the disturbing ring of truth.School Library Journal, starred review

The tale of New Yorks pushcart peddlers waging war against the monstrous, bullying trucks is drollas are Ronni Solberts illustrationsbut its message remains urgent.Nicole Rudick, The Paris Review blog

Theres a childrens book that was of great help to me, The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill. It is quite a wonderful description of how to run a campaign.Bill McKibben, The Boston Globe

Author Bio

Jean Merrill (1923-2012) was an American children's book writer and editor who grew up in upstate New York. She wrote more than thirty children's books, including The Black Sheep, The Toothpaste Millionaire, The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars, and The Pushcart War, for which she is best known. In March 2015, The New York Review Children's Collection will publish Merrill's The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars, with illustrations by Ronni Solbert. Ronni Solbert is a children's book illustrator and author. She was a frequent collaborator with Jean Merrill until the author's death in 2012. She lives in Vermont.