[BOOK REVIEW] We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy by Maurice Sendak

Title:  We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre:  Homelessness / Friendship / Surrealism / Nursery Rhyme

Year Published: 1993

Year Read:  2008

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Violent Imagery)

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“We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy” (whew, long title name!) is a Mother Goose nursery rhyme along with illustrations by Maurice Sendak.  This book tells the tale of two guys trying to save a kid and a lot of kittens from a band of shrewd rats.  This book may not be a classic like “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen,” but it is still full of good humor and excitement!

The nursery rhyme is surreal yet creative to read because the characters themselves are not what you would expect from a normal nursery rhyme.  The characters seem to be tough and even cruel to a certain extent but they are also brave and even friendly especially when Jack and Guy seem to hate the kid at the beginning of the book but they risk their lives to save the kid at the end.  The moon is the most surreal character of all as it tortures anyone who harms the kittens and the kid such as when the rat bites the kid and the moon ended up carrying Jack and Guy towards the rye field and when Jack tried to hit the kid, the moon transformed into an intimidating looking cat. Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are truly surrealistic yet beautiful as he makes the main characters dress up in old rags and running around the streets with no shoes to wear.  The moon’s image is surreal as it has a grumpy looking face throughout the whole book and looks menacing when it transforms into a cat that is white all over and has intense looking eyes.

“We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy” may not have the comforting tone as “Where the Wild Things Are” or light humor like “In the Night Kitchen,” but it is certainly a truly unique and creative little book as it is in a nursery rhyme format.  Many children ages five and up would greatly enjoy this book as soon as they get pass the violent images and understand the confusing plot.

You might also like:

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

• In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

• Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

[BOOK REVIEW] One Was Johnny by Maurice Sendak

Title:  One Was Johnny

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre: Animals / Counting / Poetry

Year Published: 1962

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: HarperCollins

Series: The Nutshell Kids Library 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“One Was Johnny” is another classic book from Maurice Sendak’s popular Nutshell Library and it is about how a young boy named Johnny wanted to be alone, but he gets some uninvited guests while the book counts down on how many guests come into his house.  “One Was Johnny” is the perfect counting book for children who want to learn how to count in a creative and fun way.

Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are simply simplistic yet hilarious and creative at the same time.  Maurice Sendak used mainly black, yellow, white, blue and green colors to emphasize the simplicity of the book’s counting theme and Maurice Sendak uses the same little boy that he uses for his other Nutshell Library book “Pierre” as the boy also has a blue jacket and blue pants on.  Maurice Sendak’s verses are simply creative as he describes the various kinds of guests in his house by using numbers one through ten to explain the numbering system and the way that he makes each verse with each number rhyme with each other is extremely creative.  Another great thing about this book is that it was transformed into a TV special that was sung by Carole King, which is extremely catchy to listen to and children will definitely take a true liking to this book if they watch the Carole King version of this book.

Parents should know that there are some images that show the characters biting each other such as the turtle biting the dog’s tail and a blackbird pecking Johnny’s nose.  Parents should tell their children that it is not nice to bite other people and if parents are worried about the images being too graphic for small children, they do not have to worry much since the images are not graphic as it just shows the characters bite each other but there is no blood.

“One Was Johnny” is a brilliant book for children who want to learn how to count in a hilarious and unique way and also for children who are true fans of Maurice Sendak’s brilliant works.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since smaller children might be a bit unsettled by the images of the characters biting each other.

[BOOK REVIEW] Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak

Title:  Alligators All Around

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre: Animals / Comedy / Alphabet

Year Published: 1962

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: HarperCollins

Series: The Nutshell Kids Library

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Alligators All Around” is apart of the popular Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak and it details a family of alligators showing the audience about learning the alphabet through various humorous phrases.  “Alligators All Around” is a brilliant book about teaching the alphabet in a creative way that children will love for many years.

Maurice Sendak had out done himself in this clever book about learning the alphabet through creative phrases.  Maurice Sendak comes up with some creative and hilarious verses to teach children the letters of the alphabet such as “A: Alligators All Around” and “D: Doing Dishes,” as he simply uses two words to describe each letter of the alphabet, making the book easier for smaller children to understand the concept of the letters of the alphabet.  Maurice Sendak’s illustrations may not be as colorful or realistic as his popular books “Outside Over There” or “Where the Wild Things Are,” but they are extremely creative as the characters are a family of three green alligators who are shown doing crazy antics that are representing the letters of the alphabet.  The images that truly stood out in this book were the images of the three alligators themselves as they have tiny black dotted eyes and have humorous expressions on their faces whenever they are doing something crazy in this book.

Parents should know that there is an image of a small alligator pushing a human child when the book approaches the letter “P”, which is “Pushing People” and parents might be a bit uncomfortable with having such an image presented to a young child who can easily imitate anything.  Parents should tell their children that it is not nice to push other children around and therefore, children should not imitate the image of the alligator pushing the children so often.

“Alligators All Around” is a brilliant book about learning the letters of the alphabet in a creative way that will have many children enjoying this book for a long time.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the image of the alligator pushing a child might entice smaller children.  

      

[BOOK REVIEW] Pierre: A Cautionary Tale by Maurice Sendak

Title:  Pierre:  A Cautionary Tale

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre: Animals / Manners / Drama

Year Published: 1962

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: HarperCollins

Series: The Nutshell Kids Library

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (One Scary Scene and Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Pierre: A Cautionary Tale” is apart of the Nutshell Kids Library collection by Maurice Sendak and is one of the most exciting one out of all the stories of the collection.  “Pierre: A Cautionary Tale” is about a young boy named Pierre who never cared about hurting other people’s feelings until a lion comes for a visit.  This book will definitely be a cult favorite among children who are fans of Maurice Sendak’s works. 

Maurice Sendak has done a superb job at both illustrating and writing this book.  Maurice Sendak’s writing is similar to Dr. Seuss’ famous rhyming prose as Maurice Sendak writes the story in a rhyming prose, making the story extremely creative to read.  Maurice Sendak also creatively and effectively relates the consequences of not caring about the world and how not caring could become dangerous if one is not careful.  Maurice Sendak’s illustrations may seem a bit simplistic, but the characters are lively and detailed enough to entice many children to read this book, especially of the images of Pierre with his blue outfit and his scowling facial expressions.  

Parents should know that the scene where Pierre is eaten by a lion might scare smaller children, even though this scene is not that graphic since the next images just shows the lion picking his teeth and his belly getting large.  Parents should reassure their children that if they do not care about the world, it does not mean that a lion will eat them, but that there are other consequences that children might face if they do not learn to care for other people like being shunned by other people. 

“Pierre: A Cautionary Tale” is a terrific book about the consequences of not caring about other people’s feelings and it will surely interest children for many years.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the scene where the lion eats up Pierre. 

[BOOK REVIEW] Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

Title:  Chicken Soup with Rice

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre: Months / Poetry / Humor

Year Published: 1962

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: HarperCollins

Series: The Nutshell Kids Library

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I have first heard about “Chicken Soup with Rice” on a Weston Woods video where Carole King sings the song “Chicken Soup with Rice” on “Really Rosie.”  “Chicken Soup with Rice” is a book about the months of the year by Maurice Sendak that details the months of the year in a poetic way and will surely be an instant favorite for many children who love learning about the months of the year! 

I have always loved Carole King’s version of this classic book by Maurice Sendak and when I finally read this book, I was so intrigued by Maurice Sendak’s illustrations and writing in this book.  Maurice Sendak did an excellent job at writing this book in a lyrical and poetic way, which makes the book extremely hilarious and creative at the same time by putting hilarious situations with each month described in the book.  My favorite poem in the book was the poem about the month of March, which is recited as:

“March
 
In March the wind
Blows down the door
And spills my soup
Upon the floor.
It laps it up
And roars for more.
Blowing once
Blowing twice
Blowing chicken soup with rice”

Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are truly beautiful and creative as the main colors used in the illustrations are yellow, black, grey, green, and white and also, the illustrations have a somewhat scratchy look that provides the old fashioned feel to the story. Also, the main character, which is a boy, is the same boy that shows up in all of the Nutshell library book series which will help many children realize that this boy is apart of the Nutshell library book series.  What I loved the most about these illustrations is that the boy is always shown doing something ridiculous that deals with the month being mentioned such as the image of the boy swimming in the ocean while a turtle is stirring up chicken soup at the bottom of the ocean during the month of July.

  

“Chicken Soup with Rice” is the perfect book for children to learn about the months of the year in an extremely creative and hilarious way and it will certainly be the cult classic hit of the century!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book that might cause parents to worry.