When Andy Hoddell was a small boy, he was the same as the other four; then, little by little, a window seemed to close on him; now at twelve he is different, and even Andy knows it. So that when he tells Matt and Joe and Terry and Mike that he has bought Beccham Park Trotting Course for three dollars, they are aghast. Not so the groundskeepers and ticket takers and concessionaires—everyone likes Andy, everyone hails him as the owner, everyone is glad that he's the owner; even Joe, who is most bothered by the prospect of Andy's dream crashing down around his ears, begins to doubt.... Against this authentic, incredibly poignant dilemma, Andy plays the part of the owner; he nurtures the graceful onion weed in the flower beds; sies a pack of curs after the mechanical hare on the greyhound track; decorates a decrepit grandstand with streamers for Joe's birthday. When the band uniforms are ruined by old paint Andy applied to the benches, the owners meet to take action—and decide to buy Andy out. As a character, Andy is so immediately and implicitly realized that it seems gross to speak of him as a retarded child, which is probably all that need be said about this buoyant book.
Pub Date: March 1, 1968
ISBN: 0152650806
Page Count: -
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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