Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue
Common Sense Note
Since Pierre is a supreme brat, the story of his comeuppance is deeply satisfying. The verse is lyrical, and the drawings are expressive.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Peter Lewis
This you-better-watch-out tale is well written for the beginning reader, with a catchy refrain--"I don't care!"--that gives new readers a welcome reprieve from some challenging vocabulary.
Kids can relate to Pierre--who hasn't been a brat at one time or the other? And they laugh when he is at the mercy of the lion with the same attitude.
It's reassuring that Pierre's parents love him, regardless of his caring or lack thereof, and that they defend him against the lion: "They pull the lion / by the hair. / They hit him / with the folding chair." What a hoot when the lion croaks "I don't care!" and Pierre's whereabouts are revealed. "He's in there!! He's in there!!" cried an entire classroom full of four-year-olds in a chorus of guffaws when that page was read to them.
PIERRE is also grouped with three other exceptional stories by Maurice Sendak--One Was Johnny, Chicken Soup With Rice, and Alligators All Around--in a boxed edition called the Nutshell Library. Anita Jeram's Contrary Mary will surely be a hit as well.
Plot Summary:
Pierre doesn't care when his parents implore him to do this or not do that, but when a hungry lion comes to call, bratty Pierre changes his tune. This solid early reader, with rhyming text, provides a chuckle and leaves kids with the infectious chant--"I don't care!"
Rate It!
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ViolencePierre is swallowed by a lion, but is rescued. |
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Social BehaviorPierre says "I don't care" when his parents try to get him to behave. |
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