NO, DAVID!
by David Shannon & illustrated by David Shannon
This autobiographical (according to the author’s note) story from Shannon (A Bad Case of Stripes, 1998, etc.) features a young hellion, also named David, who is forever at the receiving end of a sharp “No!”
Among his prime escapades: over-reaching for the cookie jar, excavating his nose, tracking mud on the carpet, pounding pots, playing with food, making a naked escape from the house—classics all. “That’s enough,” his mother shouts, and other familiar adult admonishments show up as well—be quiet, come back here, go to your room, settle down, stop that this instant, not in the house. This last comes as David prepares for a little indoor hardball. Does he listen? Does he break a vase? Does he get sent to the corner, nose to the wall? Readers or listeners will be gripped by this episode right out of their own lives, through to the stray tear, the look of contrition, and the moment of redemption: “Davey, come here. Yes, David . . . I love you.” The illustrations are wonderful, full of good-time trouble-making tomfoolery, borrowing on the energy of children’s drawings and the determined strokes of their early attempts at lettering.
David is a small, snaggle-toothed piehead whose mischief—for those who don’t have to clean up after him—is nothing short of exhilarating. (Picture book. 2-6)