Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Is it possible for a few words and squiggles to convey both humor and emotion? Presto, chango! Jules Feiffer does the impossible! His seamless blend of scribbled text and cartoon art captures every nuance of the young heroine's feelings. The reader stays in complete sympathy with the little girl even when she's pouting. "Nobody will help me find my bear. So I cried. And nobody stopped me. So I stopped myself. But I know it's gone ... forever.".
Adults can expect their kids to squeal with delight at the girl's all-too-recognizable antics. One group of first-graders were literally rolling on the floor when the girl tries to choose a stuffed animal to throw.
Rarely do text and pictures work together this perfectly. But in the hands of a master the tiniest curlicue carries a tremendous freight of character, hilarity, and poignancy. It's a good thing this book is so much fun for adults, because their children will want to hear it again and again.
While grown-ups ham it up to convey all the different voices and moods, kids will pore over every detail in the pictures. And while they point and laugh at the little girl's ever-changing expressions and the havoc she makes of the house, parents and grandparents will smile in recognition of Feiffer's wise insights into young children.
From The Book
Look here, look there, look in my Granny's chair. Look in, look out, look up the waterspout. Look high, look low, go, go, GO! Until you find my bear! This means Y-O-U! And I threw it! And it found my lost barrette.
Plot Summary:
Oh, no! A little girl's favorite stuffed toy is GONE! Her parents won't help, but her sister thinks she should throw another toy and see if it finds the first one. But which to pick? And how to avoid hurting any of the toys' feelings? The always hilarious Feiffer captures the inner workings of a preschooler's mind with impressive perception.
Related Books:
For more Feiffer fun, try Meanwhile. And for another picture book about a child's attachment to a beloved toy, you'll want to read Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber.
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