Donald Duck certainly has a way of making a mess of things. Sometimes
it's his own fault, but sometimes, as in the 1955 Carl Barks
picture book Donald Duck: The Fair Fiasco, disaster finds him, and there's not a lot that he can do about it.
The
story begins with Donald's nephews informing him that his horoscope
indicates that whatever he dreamed the night before will come true.
Donald can't remember his dream but hopes it was pleasant, and when he
sees an ad for a county fair with an old-fashioned rig contest, he
figures that fortune is on the horizon for him.
Sweet but feisty
farmer Grandma Duck, a character I only recall encountering in one
other Disney book many years ago, has a role to play here, as she is the
one who owns the ox cart that Donald takes to the fair, as well as the
bull that will pull it. Although Grandma assures Donald that he is
docile and has never charged at the color red, the bull begins to
display erratic behavior almost as soon as Grandma's house is out of
sight. Was this a terrible mistake?
The nice thing about this
book is that neither Donald nor his nephews are being obnoxious, which
all four have been known to do. Donald is just a guy who'd like a lucky
break, and his nephews seem to want him to have one too. Johnny, the
bull, is a gentle creature - except when he isn't. Given Grandma's
recommendation, Donald is not so much to blame for his wild behavior as
he is for the car that he can't control in Donald Duck, TV Star!
Still, there's a lesson here about properly preparing for something
before diving into it. Then again, this was a last-minute decision, so
further preparation would not have been possible.
The book
almost has a comic book feel to it, as most pages include boxes set
inside the primary pages. Barks also uses dialogue bubbles occasionally
with Donald, as well as jumbo-sized onomatopoeia. The varying background
colors on each page help add variety and interest in this visually
appealing book. Johnny is particularly vivid, especially when he sees
something that makes him angry. It becomes a race against time to
discover what is triggering Johnny's rages. Can Donald or his nephews
figure it out in time, or will the bull be left to cut a path of
destruction across the county? The clues are evident, so kids can have
fun trying to work out the solution before the characters do.
Donald Duck: The Fair Fiasco
is a funny book that paints Donald in an almost entirely sympathetic
light. More than half a century old, this classic story still provides
laughs.
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