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He wasn't the worst man in the world, but he wasn't the nicest, either. That's what this man's wife understands as they head off to market to sell a basket of fish. And when he is grumpy with the various people they encounter along the way -- a young girl herding geese, the boy guarding the village gate, even the man with whom they trade their fish -- she is hardly surprised. After all, when h... More

He wasn't the worst man in the world, but he wasn't the nicest, either. That's what this man's wife understands as they head off to market to sell a basket of fish. And when he is grumpy with the various people they encounter along the way -- a young girl herding geese, the boy guarding the village gate, even the man with whom they trade their fish -- she is hardly surprised. After all, when husband and wife have been married a good long time, they get used to each other's ways. But when she catches sight of a table of plump red strawberries and her husband is too stingy to buy any, it's simply the last straw! Now, what will it take for this stingy, grumpy, impatient man to cheer her up again?

Newbery Medal winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor spins a droll tale of foibles and forgiveness, warmly captured in Rosalind Charney Kaye's charming illustrations.