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Summary
Summary
The tables are turned and the grown-ups have all the fun in this wickedly silly story of parental mayhem.
When two children set off to stay the night at their grandparents', they spend their day imagining what their parents are doing while they're away. Jumping on beds, they think, or sledding down the stairs on pillows. Watching hours of television, playing ball in the house, eating junk food, and making one VERY big mess!
When the kids come home the house looks tidy. "It was pretty quiet," says Dad...but was it? Mom is hiding something behind her back, and those socks hanging from the ceiling fan weren't there yesterday.
Cyd Moore's antic illustrations contrast the wild adventures at home with the more wholesome fun at the children's' grandparents' house. Jeanie Ransom's clever tale will keep young readers laughing long after the story has ended.
Author Notes
Jeanie Franz Ransom is a former school counselor, a freelance journalist and copy writer, and a picture book author. A graduate of Cornell College, she holds a master's degree in professional counseling from Lindenwood University. She lives in Missouri.
Cyd Moore has been a painter, graphic designer, and art director, as well as the illustrator of more than fifty books, including I Love You, Stinky Face, which has sold over a million and a half copies, and Willow, which was included in Oprah's Book Club 2010 Kids' Reading List: 6 to 9 Years. Originally from Georgia, she now lives in South Carolina.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In the same spirit as Anne Bowen's What Do Teachers Do (after YOU Leave School)? (Carolrhoda, 2006), this entertaining story explores the trouble that mischievous adults can get into when they have the house to themselves. The young narrator and his sister spend the night with their grandparents, leaving Mom and Dad home alone. According to the imaginative boy, his parents jump on the bed and slide down the stairs on pillows. They play video games and eat pizza in front of the television. The young-at-heart adults also fight over his toys and dress up the hapless dog. At the end of each page, the son follows up his recounting with a parental admonishment. ("Somebody always gets hurt when you play rough" or, "Is that the best use of their time?") Meanwhile, the kids enjoy a well-behaved visit with Grandma and Granddad, which is depicted in illustrations set off in the bottom corners of the pages. Of course, when the children return home, all evidence of their parents' rowdy evening has been erased. The watercolor-and-colored-pencil illustrations add humorous details to the story. The fluffy, white mutt's expressive reactions to the unaccustomed mayhem are particularly comical. This fun-filled selection provides an inventive twist to a typical story.-Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
A boy imagines what his parents do (jump on the bed, play ball in the house) while he and his sister are spending the night with their grandparents. The clever premise is well executed: watercolor and pencil illustrations of Mom and Dad acting like kids are paired with smaller vignettes of the more decorous goings-on at Grandma and Granddad's house. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In this rollicking flight of fancy, a boy and his sister are spending the night at their grandparent's house. The boy's musings take off when he ponders what his parents will do with their free time. First, he assumes that his parents will rush upstairs to their room (innuendo to be ignored) and jump on the bed with their shoes on. Throughout the day, the boy envisions the parents doing all of the exciting activities specifically forbidden the children. They slide down the stairs riding sofa cushions; they eat loads of junk food; they play basketball in the house. A very parental sounding note, e.g., "Somebody always gets hurt when you play rough," follows each assumed activity. All this is pictured, large as life, over two-thirds of the page, the parents as jubilant as the brightly hued, busy scenes. Below, readers see what placid and agreeable events are happening at the grandparent's house: drinking lemonade and reading stories, for instance. Giggles abound as this cheerful tale of imagined role-reversal plucks at the seams of conventionality and lets out a little stuffing. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
What, indeed? According to the young narrator, when the kids aren't home, the parents jump on the bed, watch TV shows they've seen a bazillion times, and dress up the dog. The main illustrations feature two exuberant adults making a mess with toys, food, and clothes, while smaller pictures show the narrator and his little sister having fun at their grandparents' house. Young listeners may be familiar with the narrator's reactions to parental misbehavior: They've probably ruined their appetites. They better hope those Kool-Aid stains come out! Most fun, though, are the household mysteries that are explained: a game in which socks are tossed on the ceiling fan engenders the comment, No wonder we can never find two socks that match! Moore's illustrations, which bring to mind Marc Brown's Arthur books (without the animals-as-people angle), include some nice touches, such as the patient-looking dog wearing gloves on its ears. --Abby Nolan Copyright 2007 Booklist