Schifflebein's Folly

Publisher's Summary

Lloyd Schifflebein wants to adopt children, but he must convince authorities he is not crazy. He isn't. His teapot really is talking to him. This is a funny way to build a family!

More details: 

When the social worker from hell agrees to give him a chance, things are looking up. Soon, Lloyd is the happy father of six, count ‘em, six special-needs children and their six pet bunny rabbits. The Schifflebein household is a regular day at the circus. And they’ll be a forever family, provided they can get through a probationary period with surprise inspections at any time. 

Then things begin to go wrong. 

©2015 Delia L. Stewart (P)2018 Delia L. Stewart

I love this book!!

This has more of a fairy tale feel to it but with a male lead instead of the usual female character. I thought this is very clever of the author. They did it in such away that did not make it feel odd.
There are even funny moments and I loved the main character.
Like all fairy tales this does have a happy ending.
I would recommend this book to all since it is a clean read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Top read for those who work tough jobs!

love, suspense, tea, children
Read 2 times.

A fairy tale, a morality tale, and an outstanding read! I am so glad that I picked this one out of my too tall TBR pile! An excellent read for the overwhelmed, disenchanted, and those suffering from the weather. The publisher's blurb leaves nothing else for me to say about this one unless I stoop to spoilers, so grab a copy and make your day!
I liked it so much that I got the audio and I'm so glad I did! Jenny Hoops manages to make this fun story even better!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Adorkable and brilliant!!!

I loved this story. It was sweet and adorable with a tad supernatural element.

I loved Schifflebein! Everyone should have a Schifflebein in their lives. He was unique and genuine and loving. The fact that he loved rabbits was just an added element to his special. He had struggles and faced down some bad guys and the HEA was 1000% perfection.

I loved the narrator too! There were a variety of voices and nationalities and men and women and they all came to life. It's too bad this absolutely adorkable story is one and done. I would love to hear more.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

What an Interesting Story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook for an honest/unbiased review. Needless to say, this was an interesting listen to. The beginning is questionable because I had no clue how the teapot maker/teapot was going to be incorporated into Lloyd’s life (based on Audible’s blurb). I’m still curious as to who the teapot marker is, how his teapots come to life, and his end goal. I’m just not sure about the supernatural aspect.

While I thought the narrator did an alright job, there were some questionable accents she used. One being Ms. Stoner’s boss who just sounded cheesy, and then Remmy’s. Overall, Remmy sported a country accent, but there was a time (forgot when specifically) that she sounded like she was from Louisiana, and Louisan’s have a unique accent. Plus, the way she spoke for Remmy made her sound like she was a lot older than Lloyd and a good majority of the characters. Until the end, when they’re in court and she tells everyone that her and Lloyd were in foster homes together – meaning close in age – I was surprised.

Questions/Comments:

When it came to Lloyd adopting, I found it strange that not one social worker would have gone to his house to get better acquainted with him in the twelve years prior to getting his first child, yet they referred to him as being crazy. What did he say (since no one saw him in person) that made him appear crazy? Either way, that part just sounded very strange.

I loved the correlation between kids and bunnies, that was a unique take and very interesting.

Amy didn’t like being touched in the beginning, yet there was a time when Lloyd touched her hand with no complaints, yet the next time he went to touch her (I think it was a hug), she shied away from him.
Similar to the social worker staff thinking Lloyd was crazy, the one inspector also did. He’d said that Lloyd was nuts “and always has been.” Again, what made people think he was nuts? Because he wanted kids so badly? I didn’t really get that part.

A law suit is filed against Lloyd regarding being a homosexual, not applicable to adopt kids. Two police officers show up to take the kids away. Now…I’m not in law enforcement, social services, or anything else relating to those areas. But I do know that when situations like this happen, the lead social worker will always be involved. That means that Stoner would have known what was going on. Therefore, I found it strange that she would have continued on with this process (taking the kids away) even though she’d met Charlie and knew that Charlie was a female, not a male.

Speaking of the suing, I could understand a person suing another person with no proof of any wrongdoing on the su-ee’s part. But when it comes to an organization like the zoning office suing an individual with no proof of anything, again, it just sounded strange to me. Like he was charged with having farm animals in his house without anyone actually coming to see what was going on beforehand. Should I mention that I can’t help but really dive into a story? I’m definitely a critical thinker and sometimes have no control over what my brain notices.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

It ain't over till the tea-kettle sings.

This whimsical story is sheer delight.
Pity the synopsis is so long: best to come into it totally unaware.
It's a life affirming but totally daffy story with characters who deserve to leap straight into a film, stepping from a black and white to Technicolor screen.
This story took me totally by surprise.

Without an excellent narrator, much of the book's magic might have been lost. But Jenny Hoops was superb, voicing her characters with gusto, her expressions both funny and cynical. So her Cockney street kid accent was weird - but that just didn't matter.The whole cast of characters was a little bit odd, anyway.

My deep thanks to the rights holder of Schfflebein's Folly, who, at my request via Audiobook Boom, freely gifted me a complimentary copy to enjoy. And I did. Enormously.
Highly recommended to everyone living in our usually cynical world.