Shabby Sunday: The Bremen-town Musicians – Ruth Belov Gross & Jack Kent 1974 (Including Audio)

Shabby Sunday

I have a lot of old vintage books and one of my plans when I first started blogging was to do a post every week or so that shared one of my cherished vintage books. Then I thought there might be other book bloggers out there that have some vintage books, heirlooms, or maybe some old books from childhood that they might want to share. I decided to start a weekly meme titled ‘Shabby Sunday’ for those who would like to participate and share some of their old vintage books. Do you have some shabby books you’d like to share? If so, please feel free to participate as anyone can join. Feel free to use the picture I’ve provided if you’d like to. If you decide to do this meme, please consider linking back to me so that I can see the book you’re sharing.

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There’s a new participant this morning with a shabby share from her childhood! Please check out Jennifer @ jennifertarheelreader.com!

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Today’s Shabby Share is:

The Bremen-Town Musicians

by

Ruth Belov Gross,

Jack Kent (Illustrator)

From Goodreads:

Once there lived a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster who had grown too old to be useful to their masters. Because their masters want to get rid of them, they run away. They meet on the road and decide to go to Bremen-Town to be street musicians.

Soon, they discover a cozy cabin occupied by robbers. The four friends have an idea and manage to scare the robbers away by making the loudest music they can. Now they can settle into a new home.

My thoughts on this book:

This book goes way back to my childhood and its honestly one of my very first reading remembrances next to the Hansel and Gretel record edition that I had. I fell in love with retellings from a very young age and to this day they’re some of my favorite reads. This isn’t my original copy from when I was a kid, but a copy I picked up at a book sale years ago for my own children.

My edition from childhood had a cassette with it that I loved to listen to. The audio is hilarious! I thought about tracking down the original, but I did find the original audio on YouTube. I’m so thankful for YouTube as it’s such an amazing tool.

The book begins with a donkey who is told by his master that he’s no good anymore. His master feels that he’s too old for work. The donkey decides to run away and he heads to Bremen-town to become a musician. On his way, he meets other animals who are in the same position as he is. Their masters have no use for them anymore either.

On their travels they come to a house. When they take a look inside the window they find robbers sitting around a table and having a good time. They decide that they’d love to have some of their food and devise a plan to kick the robbers out. They come crashing through the window and the robbers run away.

I won’t spoil the whole story for you. This is still a favorite today and my kids enjoy reading it. There are many different versions and the original Grimm tale is worth checking out!

Our copy is taped up and not in very good condition. The illustrations are still colorful though and it’s totally readable.

Find it on Goodreads and Amazon:

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Scholastic (1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590758063
• ISBN-13: 978-0590758062

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Other blogs who have participated in Shabby Sunday:

Nicky@ An Introverted Bookworm

TheOrangutanLibrarian

Claire@ Brizzle Lass Books

Author Didi Oviatt

Sassy Brit@ Alternative-Read

Brittany @ PerfectlyTolerable

Shari @ Sharisakurai.com

Jennifer @ Jennifertarheelreader.com

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Thanks for checking out Shabby Sunday. Do you have any Shabby books to share? Feel free to share your thoughts below or participate in Shabby Sunday if you’d like! ❤