Gorky Rises

by William Steig

Book Overview

One fresh and fair summer day, as soon as his parents go out, Gorky sets up his laboratory by the kitchen sink to have another try at concocting a magic potion. This time he strikes upon the missing ingredient--half a bottle of his mother's attar of roses--and he knows it's success at last.
While he is waiting for the bubbly, glinting liquid to show what it can do, he heads over to Elephant Rock, "his best spot for doing nothing." But on the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374427844
• ISBN13: 9780374427849
• Release Date: September 1986
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.4" x 10.8"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Gorky Rises

I like all William Steig books. They are thoughtful, intelligent, funny, and well written. I adore his illustrations.

magical book

I bought this for a "future time," but our 2 yr old actually likes it now. Sometimes he only makes it through half, but he still picks it out for bedtime. The illustrations and language are wonderful. This is one of the stories that my husband doesn't get tired of reading over and over to the baby.

A story that transcends time...

I read this story to my son when he was a little tyke. He's now nearly 20. I haven't read the book in years, yet, lately, I've been thinking a lot about Gorky and his travels away from home, up into the "blue, blue sky". Guess it has something to do with my 3 kids all about ready to take off on their own. The prose is marvelous, full of colorful and descriptive language, the story is beautiful, about the joy and pain of growing up and away, and the illustrations are an added benefit, though unnecessary due to the ability of the author to draw wonderful pictures with his magical use of the English language. Thank you William Steig!