Lyle and the Birthday Party

The message is a good one, and children still enjoy the story.

Author: Bernard Waber Illustrator: Bernard Waber Pages: 48 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Children's Books Published Date: 01/01/1966 Genre: Fiction - Picture Book PB Price: $6.95 Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: Ages 4-8 Read Aloud: 4+ Read Alone: 6+

Common Sense Note

A birthday party, jealous feelings, and a trip to the hospital all rolled into one appeals to kids, but the story is a bit preachy, and the art is not quite as consistently detailed or charming as in previous books in the series.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Kevin McCaffrey

Plenty of children's books deal with jealousy--see A Birthday For Frances, by Russell Hoban, and One Frog Too Many, by Mercer Mayer. It doesn't usually lead to a hospital stay, though. But Bernard Waber, who admits to daydreaming a lot, isn't satisfied producing a one-emotion book. Why not address a child's fear of going to the hospital, too?

So Lyle worries himself into a malaise over his bad behavior, which cause the adults to plunk him in bed. The charm of Lyle is his irrepressibility, and he naturally helps the other patients, bringing him back to himself. This moral lesson can't be missed.

Though the language isn't overly complicated, there is a lot of dialogue in this story, which make it more of a challenge to read aloud than other entries in the series. The path that leads Lyle to the hospital may confuse younger listeners, who will certainly need an explanation of hospital rules, here carried to an absurd extreme.

There's a lot of story here for Waber's art to enhance, and not all of it is up to his usual standards of detail and interest. But it works as a package, the message is a good one, and children still enjoy the story.

A couple of other classic characters deal with the hospital: Try Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline and H. A. Rey's Curious George Goes to the Hospital.

Plot Summary:

Helping prepare for Joshua's birthday party, Lyle feels the pangs of jealousy. His moody behavior, combined with a series of misunderstandings, lands him in the hospital. But there he finds the cure lies in helping others. The lesson comes on strong, but the story and pictures are still entertaining.

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