Little Monster At School

Little Monster At School. (A Golden Look-Look Book) Mercer Mayer. 1978. Golden Books. 24 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Early in the morning, Mom wakes me and says, "Get up, Little Monster, it's time for school."

 Premise/plot: Little Monster goes to school and makes a new friend, Yally. Yally isn't the most likable or outgoing--in fact, for most of the day (most of the book) he's pout-y and grumpy. But Yally and Little Monster end the day friends at last.

My thoughts: When I think of Mercer Mayer I typically think of Little Critter. I love, love, love, love Little Critter. I remember so many Little Critter books clearly. I had a vague memory of his other series, the Little Monster series. When I saw a couple of these at the local charity shop, I decided to buy them and read them.

I liked this one. I liked Little Monster. Little Monster is empathetic to Yally; Little Monster's kindness--persistent kindness--leads to a new friendship.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Freight Train

Freight Train. Donald Crews. 1978. 26 pages. [Source: Borrowed]

First sentence: A train runs across this track. Red caboose at the back. Orange tank car next. Yellow hopper car.

Premise/plot: Freight Train is a concept book teaching colors, a train-themed concept book teaching colors. It received a Caldecott Honor in 1979, I believe. If I had to guess the most memorized picture book ever, I bet it would be Freight Train or Goodnight Moon. What do you think it would be?

My thoughts: What's not to love about this children's classic? It wasn't the first train book, it certainly won't be the last. What is it about kids and trains?!

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

A Question of Time

A Question of Time. Dina Anastasio. 1978. 90 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Syd opened her eyes and glanced out the window.

Premise/plot: Syd Stowe moves with her family from New York City to a small town in Minnesota. Her great-grandfather, Jake Stowe, moved from that same town to New York when he was just eighteen. That would have been circa 1900. At first she's so upset that she doesn't want to leave the house and make friends. But after discovering a toy shop with homemade wooden dolls, she becomes fascinated with the history of the town. In particular how the dolls connect to the history of the town. The shop owner says that the dolls' appearance is based on real life people.

Soon after Syd meets a girl around her own age that looks just like one of the dolls. Both of them carry a bag of marbles. Weird. The two start hanging out together. Can Laura help her figure out who the dolls are supposed to be? Can Laura help her discover the identity of their maker?

My thoughts: A Question of Time is a weird mystery. Syd, our heroine, is drawn into a mystery in the past. It's a mystery that leads her straight back to her own family. It's a book that in some ways leaves more questions for readers than it answers. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Would I have enjoyed reading A Question of Time as a kid? Probably not. I would describe this one as bittersweet at best. I did not do bittersweet as a kid. If it didn't end happy, I was MAD.



© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut. Dr. Seuss. 1978. Random House. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too.

Premise/plot: The Cat in the Hat is back in Dr. Seuss' I Can Read With My Eyes Shut. In this one, he's showing off--classic Cat style--about how great a reader he is.

My thoughts: I enjoy this one very much. I do agree that "you have to be a speedy reader 'cause there's so, so much to read." With such fun and silly phrases as: "You can read about anchors. And all about ants. You can read about ankles! And crocodile pants!" this one is just a delight.

Text: 3.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3.5 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Paul's Christmas Birthday

Paul's Christmas Birthday. Carol Carrick. Illustrated by Donald Carrick. 1978. 32 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: It was the middle of December. All the children in Paul's class were talking about Christmas.

Premise/plot: Paul was born on December 24. He doesn't like having his birthday so close to Christmas. He doesn't feel like his birthday is special--all the focus is on Christmas instead. So his mom decides to have a birthday party and invite all the kids in Paul's class. The invitation promises a visit by a MAN FROM OUTER SPACE. Maybe the kids come because they really like Paul; maybe the kids come because their parents see it as free babysitting so they can go shopping; maybe the kids come because they're curious about how Paul knows an alien. Regardless of why--they come.

My thoughts: Paul's Christmas Birthday is a sad, pitiful, strange book. Imagine a book about birthdays, or a book about Christmas illustrated in these colors: orange, yellow-brown, brown-brown, light and dark gray, and peach. Nothing merry or bright. Paul is--temporarily at least--depressed and out of sorts. The whole man-from-outer-space thing is just weird--beyond weird really. The visitor is none other than Santa. This confuses the children greatly. As it did me.

 I will say this. I do like the illustrations, just not the colors. If the mom had gone with "special guest" or "special visitor" instead of MAN FROM OUTER SPACE, the text might have worked for me better.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers

One Dragon's Dream

Pavey, Peter. 1978/2009. One Dragon's Dream: A Counting Book.

Candlewick's first edition of this is releasing soon--next week in fact. The first thing that struck me about this one is how similar (in some ways) the look and feel of it is to the old Sesame Street cartoons of numbers--the pinball song I guess you'd call it. And then I saw the video for "When I'm Sixty-Four" and I saw the counting sequence (You know, the one minute is a long time part.) So in other words, even if I hadn't found the "1978" copyright date, there's no disguising that this one is from a different era.


The numbers, I like. I'll admit that. But everything from that point on is just weird, weird, weird. You'll have to be the judge on if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Seriously, one person's weird is another person's awesome.

1 One dragon had a dream
2 That two turkeys teased him,
3 Three tigers told him off,
4 And four frogs seized him.

It's not exactly my kind of counting book.


© Becky Laney of Young Readers