Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Lyons Public Library | E/K STE | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | STEVENSON | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | E STEVENSON | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
At the Mud Flat Olympics if the animals don't win the Deepest Hole Contest, the All-Snail High Hurdles, or the River-Cross Freestyle, they can still come to the picnic after the games and have ice cream for dessert.
Author Notes
James Stevenson was born in Manhattan, New York on July 11, 1929. He graduated from Yale University. He was a reporter from Life magazine before being hired by The New Yorker in 1956. He drew 1,988 cartoons, 79 covers, and wrote and illustrated articles including Talk of the Town pieces for the magazine. He also drew editorial cartoons for The New York Times and in 2004 began an occasional series for the Op-Ed page entitled Lost and Found New York, which looked back on people and places of the past.
He wrote and/or illustrated more than 100 children's books including Don't You Know There's a War On, The Worst Person in the World, Higher on the Door, The Mud Flat Olympics, Yard Sale, The Mud Flat Mystery, What's Under My Bed, That Terrible Halloween Night, and Worse Than Willy. In 1987, he won the Caldecott Honor for When I Was Nine. He also wrote novels and an illustrated biography of Frank Modell, a fellow New Yorker cartoonist. He died of pneumonia on February 17, 2017 at the age of 87.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-A group of animal friends is holding its own Olympic games in this beginning chapter book. Episodes describe the Deepest Hole Contest (for moles), the All-Snail High Hurdles, the smelliest skunk contest, and the River-cross Freestyle. The delightfully funny events, which the creatures win with their wits rather than with their brawn, will please many youngsters. Stevenson's droll critter drawings, done in watercolor and pen and ink, accent and amplify the text. A book that's sure to be a hit with newly independent readers.-Janet M. Bair, Trumbull Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Neither as affecting as Stevenson's Grandaddy's Place or Grandaddy & Janetta nor as memorable as his warm reminiscences of childhood (Don't You Know There's a War On?) nor as laugh-aloud funny as his whimsical The Flying Acorns, this good-natured chapter book is still an excellent choice for beginning readers. The annual Olympic games are being held on the mud flat, and the contestants are amiable but determined to win. The moles Kevin and Kimberly both set their sights on the Deepest Hole Contest (after burrowing underground, he reports that he encountered hot lava; she bests him with her tale of reaching China). The Smelliest Skunk Contest, the All-Snail High Hurdles and the River-cross Freestyle follow-all with unexpected results. Stevenson's animal athletes are a likable lot; even a wily crocodile who tries to win the swimming race by biting a rival makes amends in the end. The humor is subtle, delivered largely through understated dialogue and brief, pert sentences, and, of course, through Stevenson's characteristically droll watercolor-and-black-pen illustrations. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
The animals of Mud Flat are enthusiastic participants in their own Olympic games, including the Deepest Hole Contest, the All-Snail High Hurdle event, and the Smelliest Skunk Contest. Stevenson's gentle humor and expressive watercolor and ink drawings of the animals have provided us with another winner. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The animals' sports meet is the most good-natured of field days, from the eagerly anticipated arrival of the opossum Burbank with the torch to the celebratory picnic when Ardsley and Hastings (elephants) sing a duet as the others drift contentedly off to sleep. Like those at any school, the contestants' shapes and capabilities are diverse: Old Mr. Crenshaw (a mole) paces himself in the ``Deepest Hole Contest'' (``I save my best digging for the end'') and finally has to drop out (``I'm pooped...I gave it my best shot''). Judgments evolve sensibly in process (since no one can actually see the moles' tunnels, the one who says he got to where ``everybody was speaking Chinese'' is declared the winner). When several snails are impeded in the high hurdles not only by their natural pace but also by their leisurely chatting, the judge takes a lunch break only to find all the contestants on the finish line when he returns. As much fun as the ongoing banter are the names and amiably idiosyncratic characterizations, splendidly extended in Stevenson's (Fun/No Fun, p. 637, etc.) depictions in watercolor and his free-flowing line; there are deliciously comical vignettes on each easily read page. A lovely early chapter book that adults will find difficult to resist sharing aloud. (Fiction/Easy reader. 4-10)
Booklist Review
/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Art and text work together beautifully in a goofy bit of entertainment that crackles with sly comedy. As animal athletes test their prowess in the Mud Flat Olympics, children have a chance to see friendship, fair play, and fun in action. In "The Deepest Hole Contest," the first of four laughable competitions, moles do their stuff while onlookers "see" who's ahead by putting their ears to the ground. In another match, snails tackle high hurdles with great deliberation; in a third, a variety of amiable beasts demonstrate swimming and sportsmanship. It's the "smelliest skunk contest" ("Mr. Tokay Wins Again"), however, that's truly unforgettable. Touched with the sort of comedy that makes Stevenson's books about the elderly Worst popular, this is a great example of the author-artist's mischievous verbal wit. It also shows off Stevenson's remarkable ability to turn splashes of watercolor and a few freewheeling ink lines into expressive cartoon characters. The impish humor won't be to everyone's taste, but the animal Olympians have a lot going for them--more than enough to leave a lot of kids laughing out loud. (Reviewed September 1, 1994)0688129234Stephanie Zvirin