Partners were the next best thing to being related, [Jack] thought. Better, maybe. A partner didn’t take a hair-brush to you—even when you needed it. But there were times when he wished he had a father, hairbrush and all. (126)

My childhood wasn’t filled with renowned books by famous authors. Of necessity, I stuck mostly with Christian books like those Jerri Massi books from BJU Press or the Dave Dravecky biography from Zondervan—boy, I should look up that book again!

As such, I’d honestly never heard of Sid Fleishman until I became a father myself looking for good books to read to my kids. And this, despite the fact that Fleishman had won the 1987 Newberry Award for The Whipping Boy (1986)!

Following our international move, I stumbled upon a box of such books that another American family had left behind, and in it was this excellent looking tale about the California gold rush of the mid-19th century. I thought it would be a great book to read aloud to my kids (now 12 and 13), but sadly, I was wrong.

Despite the thrills and humor of By the Great Horn Spoon!, my kids tired of the tale halfway through, and it lingered on our shelf for months with a dogeared bookmark marking our failure point. I was saddened by this, primarily because it meant my kids didn’t enjoy our nighttime reads anymore (the new bedroom setup is to blame for that, I’m sure), but also because it’s a great story that I was really enjoying! I finally finished it this week and can attest to that fact. It’s an intriguing, fun read, and my kids are missing out.

The book follows two characters, 12yo Jack and his butler Praiseworthy, as they embark from Boston to California around South American in search of golden riches. Their key motivation is to save Jack’s Aunt Arabella’s property—for Jack, so he can help rescue his sisters, and for Praiseworthy so he can help sweet Arabella.

The book is a far cry from a romance novel, but I think my kids picked up on the possibilities early on, because they didn’t seem to like even the potential for love. I don’t mind it myself, so I barely noticed the early hints. Instead, I focused on the intrigue, the fights, the humor, and the all-important treasure hunting!

I’m a big-ol’ fan of treasure hunting, and gold-panning has even been a recent focus of mine. To find a story set amongst true ’49ers, well Sir, by the great horn spoon, count me in!

I loved watching Pitch-Pine Billy teach these greenhorns a thing or two about panning for gold, even if their ain’t no water, or when a fella’s gold pan has been shot to shreds. Pitch-Pine Billy teaches them about dry washing and pan washing, digging down to bedrock, and using an umbrella or a handkerchief or whatever, any time a tin pan ain’t convenient. These were lessons worth their weight in gold, and I learned me a thing or two. By gum.

One minor critique I have occurs in Chapter Two, “How to Catch a Thief.” I was truly flabbergasted by the witty display or Praiseworthy’s detective abilities at first—using a soot-filthy pig to determine a thief’s identity. But then I later read another book with the same premise, a book of stories that predate this one by a great many centuries. Sweet and Sour: Tales from China retold by Carol Kendall and Yao-Wen Li (1978) contains a story with the exact same plot, except the detective employs the powers of a magic bell, not a magic sow. It made me realize that even the best of authors aren’t making things up out of thin air—we all stand on giant’s shoulders, and it’s OK…if we acknowledge it, which Fleischman didn’t.

All in all, this was a thrilling story for youth that I—a 42yo adult—enjoyed immensely. It reminded me of A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer (1995)—simultaneously realistic yet entirely fanciful, and with a touch of humor to boot.

I wondered what my fellow-passengers on the speed-train thought of me this weekend, as they watched a white-bearded man reading a kids’ book with illustrations. But who cares? I read what I like. Eclectic to the full.

Thanks for joining me on the ride.

©2025 E.T.