This week we asked our duo of young critics to review a book that Robbi and I both had when we were kids and both remember with great fondness. The book in question is a collection of Richard Scarry stories, delightful little vignettes, some of which are narrative stories, some of which are single-page cartoons, and some of which are just collections of illustrations of things in a particular topic, whether airplanes or vegetables. Scarry is an amazing illustrator. He might be best known for his cartoonish “Busytown” style, but he’s an extremely skilled painter, as some of the stories in the book reveal.
As you can see from the title, this book makes big claims. The question was whether the kids would agree.
And so we sat down to read.
By all appearances, the kids seemed to be having a great time. As I listened to Robbi read, I heard various chuckles of amusement and contented sighs of appreciation. I was certain that we were moving in the direction of two thumbs up
But when we got down to analysis, things we a bit more murky.
Alden’s take:
“I like that it has a bunch of different stories in it. I don’t like all of the pictures, but I like some of them. I don’t like the picture when the girl crashed her car into the fountain. It looked like she got hurt. Also, the person draws cakes well. It has a good mouse story in it. The one that has a Papa Bear in it that couldn’t find his baby bear. Where the Papa cut the cake up. It has quite a few pages. Does that mean a lot? It’s too long to read all the stories. It’s sort of a tiring thing. I sort of don’t like that it’s too long, but I like the stories, just reading one at a time, but not reading the whole book in order. The end.”
Verdict: Thumbs up
I like Alden’s assessment: after all, what good is a book without expertly rendered drawings of cake and a good mouse story? I’m not sure why she was so glum at the prospect of reading the entire book at once. It is rather long and would take quite a few minutes to read in its entirety, but we have never subjected the kids to such extreme reading sessions, usually choosing 2-3 stories before bedtime. As for the girl who crashes her car into the fountain, I want to assure you that she emerges from the incident unscathed. As for the papa bear who couldn’t find the baby bear? You’ll be glad to know (SPOILER ALERT) that he was “hiding” on his papa’s shoulders the entire time.
Kato’s take:
“I don’t like it and it’s too long. All of the stories are nice. I like it because all these beautiful colors are in it. I like the page with the planes. That’s a jet plane. I like when the pig lands his plane in someone’s underwear. That’s so silly (that’s page 181 for those of you who are curious).”
Verdict: Thumbs down
Kato’s assessment was even more puzzling. Although he doesn’t, apparently, like it, he cited only positive attributes. I question the validity of the thumbs down verdict when he freely admits that “all the stories are nice,” that it’s full of beautiful colors, and that it features his favorite thing in the world—airplanes. His feelings ALSO seem to have been colored by a fear that we would make him read it all at once. Perhaps when I’m not looking, Robbi makes them read it all at once? Actually, given her enthusiasm for the book, this would not surprise me.
Regarding that pig who lands in someone’s underwear? Here he is.
That page is always the occasion for much giggling. Because, you know, underwear is hilarious.
After voting, Kato the detractor continued his seemingly positive critique.
Kato: I like the jet fighter planes. I like the spitfire.
Kato: I like this picture because he’s giving an apple to her.
Kato: I don’t like this picture because he’s not giving flowers to anyone.
Kato: I like that I can balance it on my head.
Kato: I do NOT like it when it falls on my toe. Ow! Ow!
And there you have it, our definitive analysis. This book is fun and colorful and full of wonderful things to look at, but it is also long, occasionally controversial (cars crashing into fountains, etc), and bound by the laws of gravity.
If you are inspired by the positives, the book is pretty easy to find.