Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Dallas Public Library | + PRIMARY - HEIDE (BLUE) | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Sergio Ruzzier brings his mischievous touch to a timeless favorite by Florence Parry Heide, beloved author of The Shrinking of Treehorn . This delightful new edition includes one never-before-published story.
Ruby is reliable (kinda).
Arthur is careful (sorta).
Harry eats his carrots (though it depends on what you mean by "eat").
And just like all perfect children, Gloria helps her mother (well, that might be an exaggeration).
As the eight deliciously wicked tales featured in this hilarious chapter book prove, it's perfectly nice to be a perfect child--but where's the fun in that?
Author Notes
Florence Parry Heide was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 27, 1919. She studied at Wilson College before transferring to the University of California at Los Angeles, where she received a B.A. in English. She worked in advertising and public relations in New York City before returning to Pittsburgh during World War II. She moved to Wisconsin with her husband after the war and started writing books at the age of 48. She wrote or co-wrote over 100 children's books including the Treehorn series, Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl who Floated, and The One and Only Marigold. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Alex B. Allen and Jamie McDonald.
Heide received numerous awards and honors including having The Shrinking of Treehorn named by the New York Times as the Best Illustrated Children's Book of 1971 and winning the Jugendbuchpreis for the Best Children's Book of Germany in 1977; The Day of Ahmed's Secret received the Editors' Choice Award from Booklist in 1991, and Sami and the Time of the Troubles received the Editors' Choice Award from Booklist in 1992. She died on October 24, 2011 at the age of 92.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-A collection of eight short stories about children using clever and sneaky techniques to achieve their objectives. These goals directly conflict with the wishes of their persistent parents. Ruby doesn't want to watch her baby brother. Arthur does not want to get dressed up. Harry does not like carrots. All of these children, and others, plot and scheme to get exactly what they want. The children are represented by humanized animals with telling facial expressions. Ruzzier's two-color illustrations have a playful cartoon art appearance and accompany the text pleasingly. They also capture the hidden perspectives of some of the characters who are taken advantage of in each scenario. Their stories go untold. However, readers can easily identify feelings such as frustration and discontent in their expressive features. The tales have an engaging, poetic flow. Each humorous offering is crafted with an identical rhythmic structure. This format begins by capturing what each new character likes and does not like to do. It then describes the character's predicament and how the conflict is resolved. Heide trusts children to recognize and call out the dishonest and selfish actions and perhaps enjoy a vicarious laugh at the perfectly imperfect behavior. VERDICT A unique title to read aloud and talk about. For large collections.-Deanna Smith, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In PW 's words, ``Chess's pictures of anthropomorphic bears, imaginatively attired, do justice to these . . . fiendish inventions--trenchant stories of the ways adopted by boys and girls beside whom even really rotten children would seem perfect.'' Ages 8-12. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Originally illustrated by Victoria Chess and first published in 1ISBN 978 and 1985, respectively, these two cheeky collections of very brief stories feature realistically self-centered children or anthropomorphic animals with one thing in common: they know how to game the system and/or play adults. Gretchen, a greedy fish, is too full after her big lunch to eat the delicious-looking worm dangling on the hook in front of her. So, unlike all the others, she isnt caught by fishermen, and that night she gets to eat not only her own dinner but everyone elses as well. It pays to be greedy, sighed Gretchen happily. Ruby wants to go to her friends house to play, but her mother needs her to watch her little brother. Ruby watches Clyde, all right: she watches him wreak havoc--emptying drawers, dumping flour all over the kitchen floor. In a very short time shes on her friends doorstep, right where she wants to be. These new editions are sized perfectly for a childs hands. Ruzziers illustrations are both profuse (they appear on every spread) and understated (pen-and-ink and wash vignettes, with just one color). Ruzziers interpretation here is entirely original, yet he is surely Chesss heir apparent: their work shares the same insouciance and subversiveness. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Impeccable instructions for triumphing over grown-ups.Originally published in 1985 with illustrations by Victoria Chess, this pleasing reissue with new illustrations and one new story still showcases spot-on techniques for getting the better of adults. The trim size is invitingly small and each story (there are eight), accessibly short. Where Chess supplied pictures of identical, hairy, but benign monsters, Ruzzier depicts a variety of recognizable anthropomorphic animals. Bertha, a duck in pants and a sweater, knots her own shoelaces to stall for time. Harriet, a kitten in a button-down shirtdress and bow tie, "was a very good whiner. She practiced and practiced, and so of course she got better and better at it." Several characters win by obeying letter but not spirit. Chick Ruby must watch her baby brother, so she watches him take everything, item by item, out of the cupboards and dump them on the kitchen floor. Piglet Harry (star of the new story) can't have ice cream until his carrots "are gone," so he tucks them into a plastic bag in his pocket. Using black and blue ink and ink wash, Ruzzier complements the textual humor by giving the animals indignant eyebrows, sly expressions of superiority, seriously recognizable pouts, and genuine satisfaction at their inevitable victories. While it's fun to imagine this as a manual that will pass clandestinely from child to child, the truth is that most kids know these techniques already. No harm, no fouland no carrots. (Fiction. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This new edition of a collection by Heide, originally published in 1985, is full of entertaining short stories featuring seemingly perfect children. On the surface, they seem to do exactly as they are told, but young readers will laugh as they realize that this doesn't mean the characters are doing what they are supposed to do. Ruby watches her little brother, but doesn't do anything to stop him from causing mischief. Gertrude and Gloria help with the dishes, and Gertrude is the only one who doesn't break anything but her reward is being the only one allowed to wash dishes from now on. Rendered in black and blue ink, Ruzzier's expressive, wry illustrations, new to this edition, show the perfect children being perfectly devious, and little ones will love pointing out the characters' many schemes. With short sentences ideal for emerging readers, this collection could work for either shared or solo reading. Kids with a bit of a naughty side will be eager to get their hands on these mischievous tales.--Paz, Selenia Copyright 2017 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Know a child who just started to read independently? These old and new favorites are short, but they pack a memorable punch. my favorite books for fledgling readers don't have ranked letters or numbers or other indicators of "levels" on the covers. They're not part of megaseries like The Magic Treehouse or Junie B. Jones (useful as those books can be to get readers going). What they have in common is gorgeous art and extremely simple but highly literary writing - the kind of writing that lets a young reader know what an inner life can sound like. And while they couldn't really be called full-fledged chapter books, they are often cleverly divided into a few very short chapters, as a sort of secret handshake. These books tell new readers they have fully embarked on the journey to independent reading. All of these, I should add, are also fantastic to read aloud like a picture book to a child who is not reading alone yet. a friend for dragon Written and illustrated byDav Pilkey Scholastic/Orchard, $5.99 Dragon is blue, round, and not at all ferocious - in fact, he's kind and quite dim, which makes you want to protect him from all the trouble that finds him. What he needs most is something harder than it might seem to get hold of: a friend. First published in the 1990s, the Dragon books - there are five in total - are sweet, silly and profound all at once, with more of an edge than you usually find in this kind of story. The villain of the first is downright biblical: a merciless snake who tricks poor Dragon into thinking an apple is the friend he's been longing for. Pilkey is the big-hearted genius behind Captain Underpants, and his watercolor art for this more tender series has regular dollops of the emotional depth he can find in even the goofiest plot turn. TALES FOR THE perfect child Written by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier FABLES YOU SHOULDN'T PAY ANY ATTENTION TO By Florence Parry Heide and Sylvia Worth Van Clief, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier Atheneum, $16.99 These ultrashort, ultrawitty tales of naughty children and badly behaving animals won a cult following when they first appeared in the 1980 s, but went out of print. Now they've been reissued with wily new art by Sergio Ruzzier that perfectly suits their offbeat sensibility. We meet Harriet, a champion whiner. "She practiced and practiced, and so of course she got better at it. Practice makes perfect." And there's Chester, a lazy turkey, who won't run when the farmer calls. "The next morning, which was Thanksgiving morning, Chester looked around the empty barn. It pays to be lazy, thought Chester." Heide, who died in 2011, wrote more than 100 children's books, including the classic Treehorn Trilogy, illustrated by Edward Gorey, and it's great to see her dark, winking take on the eternal conflicts between children and parents sally forth for a new generation. anna hibiscus Written by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobias Kane/Miller, $5.99 These days more American picture books feature racially diverse children than ever and international picture books are increasingly published here, but it's still hard to find early chapter books with children who are black, and children living in other parts of the world. This joyful series about a little African girl named Anna Hibiscus is a revelation - the books ring with laughter even as they stab (delicately) at your heart. In sprightly language and adorable line drawings, they tell the story of a young girl whose eyes are wide open to the beauty and the struggles of the place where she lives. A sense of strong community and mutual caring permeates throughout, with Anna both enjoying the routines of everyday life at her family's comfortable compound and, often, confronting and trying to help children who have much less than she does. Atinuke, who lived in Nigeria as a child but is now based in Britain, works as a traditional oral storyteller, and that's not surprising: She keeps Anna's stories moving while seeding them with helpful repetition and bits of warm humor. LITTLE TIM AND THE BRAVE SEA CAPTAIN Written and illustrated by Edward ArdizzoneFrances Lincoln, $18.99 Little Tim may be the original free-range child. These books were originally published in the 1930s, and they have aged well. Four have been reissued in handsome volumes, with classic pen-and-ink and watercolor art and big, old-fashioned letters telling the tale of Little Tim, who can't be more than 6 years old, but "wanted to be a sailor." He stows away on a steamer and kicks off a life at sea, with occasional trips back to see his relieved (but understanding) parents. There's adventure and danger, of course - in the first book, everything from seasickness to a harrowing storm that almost dooms Tim and the Captain - but it's all told in direct, clear language. The tone is just a tad mock-serious, but eminently respectful of the childhood wish for greater agency. If you're new to Ardizzone's art, you're in for a treat - his dazzling pen lines and watercolor brush strokes dance across the page, creating stirring vistas of the sea alongside witty, humane portraits of Tim and the people he encounters. BARKUS By Patricia MacLachlan Chronicle, $14.99 MacLachlan, the author of the beloved novel "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and many other books for children of all ages, makes her early chapter book debut in this first of a promised new series. The charm is infectious, with MacLachlan's almost hypnotically appealing language assembling a series of surprises for the plucky little redhaired narrator. First, her favorite uncle leaves a superfun dog, who names himself Barkus, at her house. He doesn't talk, but he doesn't need to: In successive stories he makes many exciting things happen, starting with what transpires when he comes to school with her - all the way to the appearance in the little girl's household of, yes, a new kitten too. Marc Boutavant's whimsical, graphically interesting art makes Barkus's adventures seem even more like some kind of candy-colored delight a child would be thrilled to pull out of her pocket. And of course ... FROG AND TOAD STORYBOOK TREASURY Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel Harper - Collins, $11.99 The books in Lobel's series from the 1970s are something like modern classics, with their warm depiction of the devoted bond between worrywart Toad and magnanimous Frog, who might look somewhat similar but are polar opposites in temperament. While the friends approach life very differently and have the occasional contretemps, together they make a world of their own, a kind of community of two. The language is simple, and there are no contractions, which no doubt made the Frog and Toad books good candidates for the "I Can Read" series treatment they've lately been given, with the numbers on the cover telling parents their level. But I fear those numbers can also signal to kids that these are pressurized, teacher-mandated schoolwork, books that are out to measure them and rank them against their peers. If you can find copies of Frog and Toad without that business on them, I recommend those - with books as deep and rewarding as these, the numbers are just buzzkill. (Yes, they can indeed read - make them want to!) George and Martha Written and illustrated by James Marshall Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $6.00 These James Marshall books about two hippo friends may just be the ne plus ultra of the entire genre of Very Short Chapter Books. Many people consider these to be picture books, and they are rewarding to read aloud to any age child, but I think a fledgling reader will especially appreciate spending time with them. Each volume has four or five self-contained stories - vignettes, really - with few words, all easy to follow. The humor is strange and sneaky - the books kick off with George pouring split pea soup, which he hates but which Martha has made, into his shoe. There is something wonderfully cranky and realistic about the entire premise: two friends who try so hard to be nice to each other, and have a hard time figuring out how to do that. maria Russo is the Book Review's children's books editor.