Wednesday, December 12, 2012

[BOOK REVIEW] Bumble-Ardy by Maurice Sendak



Title:  Bumble-Ardy

Author:  Maurice Sendak


Genre: Party / Humor / Animal / Manners


Year Published: 2011


Year Read: 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Scary Imagery and Mischievous Behavior)
 


After years and years of reading Maurice Sendak’s works (Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen are some of my favorite works by him), I wanted to read Maurice Sendak’s most recent works and I just picked up this little gem of a book by Maurice Sendak, called “Bumble-Ardy!”  “Bumble-Ardy” is a truly unique and fun book that children everywhere will definitely enjoy!


A young pig named Bumble-Ardy never celebrated his birthday when he was younger (which happens to be on June 10th) until his parents were eaten when he turned eight and his aunt Adeline decided to take him in.  However, when Bumble-Ardy turned nine, his aunt decided to give him a birthday party and Bumble invited all of his friends, even though his aunt did not want him to serve them her brine.  When Aunt Adeline left the house, Bumble and his friends start partying!

Will Aunt Adeline find out about Bumble’s party?

Oh my gosh! I never would have thought that I would enjoy any of Maurice Sendak’s most recent works, since I have been a huge fan of  his older works which includes “Where the Wild Things Are” for many years!  But, this book really did surprise me with its whimsical verses and its creative illustrations!  I loved the way that Maurice Sendak wrote this book in a rhyming lyrical prose as it is hilarious to read through.  Some of my favorite quotes in this book included:

“At nine past the piggy swine,
Broke down the door and guzzled brine.”

Maurice Sendak’s writing is simplistic yet creative at the same time, making this book extremely easy for young children to read through.  Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are truly creative and colorful to look at as the images of the characters dressing up in various costumes for the masquerade party are a treat to see!  I loved the six page spread of all of Bumble-Ardy’s guests dancing around in their costumes (which strongly reminded me of the scene in “Where the Wild Things Are” where Max and the Wild Things have their wild rumpus). The costumes that the pigs were wearing included some of the pigs wearing large human masks and skull masks on their faces.  My favorite costume wore by one of the pigs was when one of the pigs was wearing a scary looking black skull mask with a Napoleon like hat on its head.

Overall, “Bumble-Ardy” is a truly brilliant and creative book for children who love reading books about parties and are huge fans of Maurice Sendak’s works.  As an adult, I had no problem with this book, but I guess the only problem that parents might have with this book is that the main character disobeys his aunt and that might encourage young children to disobey their parents. Also, there are some scary images with Bumble-Ardy’s guests dressing up in various costumes, including the skull mask costume that one of the guests wears.  However, this book is told in such a lyrical and fun way that young children and parents should not have any problems with this book!




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