THE TOBY MAN - Hardcover

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Grade 3-5-- A choice of occupation is often based on family tradition; so it is with Tod Golightly. Although his father died an untimely death due to his profession as a foodpad (a robber who works on foot) on the toby (thieves' slang for road), Tod is determined to become a toby man (a highwayman who rides a horse and boldly states "Stand and deliver!"). Somehow his youth and wooden knife do not strike fear into even the most vulnerable potential victims--until a donkey named Matilda talks Tod into stealing her from her cruel master. The twosome go on to collect a delightful set of characters to form a team the Bremen Town musicians would envy. Digby the mastif, Evil the ferret, and Loud Mouth the magpie each have a vital role to play as Tod plunges into a life of crime. In the end, a kindly parson takes all five in and saves Tod from prison. Although this may seem a cautionary tale, it is not told with a heavy hand. Young readers are allowed to enjoy both Tod's life as a robber and his repentance. It is clear throughout that the dramatic elements of robbery, rather than the criminal, are what captivate him. Matilda is one sharp old donkey, and her first conversation with Tod shatters any illusion that The Toby Man is a realistic historical novel set in 18th-century England. Indeed, it is Matilda who guides this very pleasing short-chapter book .
-Jody McCoy, Casady School, Oklahoma City
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Like Lindgren's Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (1983), young Tod Golightly comes ``from a long line of robbers.'' Unlike Ronia, he's prepared to follow in their footsteps, beginning immediately after his father fails to survive an encounter with a blunderbuss. Tod's first attempt fails because his intended victim is deaf and comically mistakes his every demand. Tod soon assembles a band of animals with whom he can converse (though no one else in the story has this facility): Matilda, a wise, motherly donkey who conspires in her own abduction from a cruel master; her friend Digby, a mastiff; Evil, a ferret whose friendship belies his name; and a magpie. They do rob one stagecoach, but Tod is nabbed on his next attempt; fortunately, he has meanwhile made friends with a kindly parson who cleverly- -if mendaciously--convinces the court that Tod's an innocent, and then adopts him on condition that he becomes one. Not as creatively plotted as some of King-Smith's others (Martin's Mice, 1989) but entertaining--with the dialogue a delightful blend of whimsy and common sense. Readers may later go on to Leon Garfield. Glossary of 18th-century terms (a toby man is ``a robber who holds up travelers on the road''). Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-12) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.