Cover of The Luckiest One of All
First published
1982
Editions
1 edition
Status
Out of print
A PICTURE BOOK BY BILL PEET

The Luckiest One of All

A boy who wishes he were a bird sets off a chain of wishes, as each creature longs to be something else, until the circle of envy leads back to where it began and the boy discovers who the luckiest one really is.

OPENING LINES

"There are so many things I'd much rather be," Said a boy sitting up in a sycamore tree, "And I wish I knew of some magical word That would suddenly change me into a bird. What a terrific treat it would be to go flying High over the tree tops without even half trying!"

WHY HE WROTE IT: IN THE FAMILY'S WORDS

The Luckiest One of All is a rhyming carousel of wishes in which a boy envies a bird, the bird envies another creature, and so on around the natural world, one of Bill Peet's playful explorations of the timeless lesson that the grass is not always greener. On the original family site, some of the characters who did not make it into the final book are shown alongside the published art.

contentment imagination nature gratitude wishes

From the book

The boy sits in the sycamore tree wishing he were a bird
The boy sits in the sycamore tree wishing he were a bird
The frog perches on a rock among the cattails
The frog perches on a rock among the cattails
The old steam shovel toils at digging in the hillside
The old steam shovel toils at digging in the hillside
The street lamp glows on the busy theater street at night
The street lamp glows on the busy theater street at night
The lonely red barn stands on its hill at sunset
The lonely red barn stands on its hill at sunset
The weary mountain peak rises above the valley lake
The weary mountain peak rises above the valley lake

Preliminary sketches

A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
A character who did not make it into the book
The Luckiest One of All: rough draft
The Luckiest One of All: rough draft

You might also enjoy

Cover of Merle the High Flying Squirrel
Merle the High Flying Squirrel
1974
Cover of No Such Things
No Such Things
1983