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Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue

Book Summary

Reviewed by Peter Lewis

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!"

Is It Any Good?

4

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 4-year-olds in a chorus of guffaws when that page was read to them.

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