From: Gennifer Choldenko <choldenko>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 13:20:44 -0800

I have to chime in on Mo Willems' DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! We got it from the library and within a half hour, my four-year-old daughter had the whole thing memorized. It was just hilarious to see her sitting in the living room playing the part of the pigeon in her most wheedling tone: "Pretty pleeeeease," and then as proxy for the bus driver, she'd belt out: "NO! YOU CAN'T DRIVE THE BUS." If I'd read it on my own, I would have thought. Hmm. Original concept. But where's the meat? Having seen it "in action" though, I have to say there is more to it than I thought. For little kids who get told "NO," an awful lot, this book provides a valuable opportunity for cathartic role playing in addition to just plain fun.
  I also loved OLIVE'S OCEAN because I thought Kevin Henkes got so deeply inside his main character's head. Her experience was my experience. Her feelings were my feelings. There was no distance between the reader and the viewpoint character - and that is quite unusual I think. I'd say more about this, but I can't without being a spoiler, so just read it, okay?
  Lastly, I have to mention FAT KID RULES THE WORLD, which I loved in part because it was so laugh-out-loud funny. K.L. Goings has a terrific voice. She captures the self-consciousness of obesity so very well. But I also found the characterization of the father to be quite moving. We saw him in such a different light at the end of the book. And his change was both moving and believable.
  Gennifer Choldenko AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS/G.P. Putnam's Sons March 2004
Received on Wed 03 Dec 2003 03:20:44 PM CST