Knee-Knock Rise, by Natalie Babbitt, 1970, Book Review

In a land of flat plains there sits a ridge of hill, and on the very top one, the one always embraced by a cloak of mist, there dwells a beast. The people of Instep, the town closest to Kneeknock Rise, hold a fair each autumn, when the weather turns surly and the

Megrimum atop the hill begins to moan. It is to this fair that Egan is bound. Here he learns the nature of the beast, and the best ways to ward it off–candles, onions, wishbones, poppies and bells. Especially bells. Bright-eyed people happily shared exciting tales of mystery and dread, for the Megrimum was “frightful and fine and it belonged to them.” But is it a beast at all?

Natalie Babbitt creates a wonderful tale that took Newbery honors in 1971. I did not, however, like it as much as Tuck Everlasting, but that’s hardly fair. I’ve had an ongoing love affair with Tuck for twenty-five years. Kneeknock Rise, though written earlier, is completely new to me. But it just doesn’t reach the depth of insight and beauty that Babbitt achieves with Tuck.
In the end, Kneeknock Rise comes off much like a fable. For while Egan is visiting Instep, he hikes to the top of the rise. What he finds surprises him, but not as much as the response he gets to his story when he hikes below again. Perhaps the moral for this fable is best illustrated by a poem written by Egan’s Uncle Ott:

The cat attacked a bit of string

And dragged it by the head

And tortured it beside the stove

And left it there for dead.

“Excuse me sir,” I murmured when

He passed me in the hall,

“But that was only string you had

And not a mouse at all!”

He didn’t even thank me when

I told him he was wrong

It’s possible – just possible –

He knew it all along.

To put it another way: You can’t talk a fool out of deluding himself.
Highly recommended.

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Knee-Knock Rise, by Natalie Babbitt, 1970, Book Review

6 CommentsPosted in Ages 10-12, Fantasy, Newbery Awards By Michelle IsenhoffPosted on January 31, 2012July 16, 2019Tagged book reviews, books for kids, children's literature, middle grade fiction, Natalie Babbitt

6 thoughts on “Knee-Knock Rise, by Natalie Babbitt, 1970, Book Review”

Ronna says:

January 31, 2012 at 1:13 pm

Thanks for bringing this book to my attention!
1. Michelle Isenhoff says:
  
  January 31, 2012 at 4:05 pm
  
  I got it on recommendation from Erik at thiskidreviewsbooks.
thiskidreviewsbooks says:

January 31, 2012 at 7:00 pm

Great book! Guess what! I read “Tuck Everlasting” for a “Reading Olympics” book (It’s an activity in school)! Like you, I think “Tuck Everlasting” is better, but I like the idea of it and who/what the “Megrimum” really is!
1. Michelle Isenhoff says:
  
  January 31, 2012 at 7:24 pm
  
  I bet you get gold medals in that activity, lol!
  I liked the mystery surrounding the Megrimum, too. And Babbitt just knows how to put together a good package. I’ve been extremely honored to have a few people tell me The Quill Pen reminds them of Tuck Everlasting.
  1. thiskidreviewsbooks says:
    
    January 31, 2012 at 8:36 pm
    
    That’s funny – when I read the line “Mae Tuck couldn’t die” in Tuck Everlasting I told my mom it reminded me of your line “Sanjay couldn’t die” in The Quill Pen!
    Erik 😉
Michelle Isenhoff says:

January 31, 2012 at 9:02 pm

That’s funny! I didn’t even realize that. Must have been subliminal from the half a dozen times I read the book as a kid. The line does make a great cliffhanger, though.
Everyone always asks me, but The Quill Pen wasn’t inspired by Tuck. I never even intended it to have a life/death theme. It just evolved during my many rewrites.

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