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Searching... Woodburn Public Library | E KUSKIN | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
What's a boy to do when his mom buys him everything he wants? Should he take his new toys everywhere?
Author Notes
Karla Kuskin was born in Manhattan on July 17, 1932. She received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Yale University in 1955. Her first book, Roar and More (1956), was the result of her senior graphic-arts project, for which she had to design and print a book on a small press. She was the author or illustrator of more than 50 children's books during her lifetime including In the Middle of the Trees (1958); The Rose on My Cake (1964); The Philharmonic Gets Dressed (1982); The Dallas Titans Get Ready for Bed (1986); Jerusalem, Shining Still (1987); City Dog (1994); The Upstairs Cat (1997); Moon, Have You Met My Mother? (2003); and Traces (2008). She died of cortical basal ganglionic degeneration on August 20, 2009 at the age of 77.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Brilliant, buoyant, beautiful are the words that describe Kuskin's newly illustrated story. The boy's mother indeed buys him a hat, but she doesn't stop there. Her many purchases include shoes, boots, skis, a scary mask, a mouse, an elephant, and a cello. "He loved them so much/that whatever he did/or whatever he said/when dressed in his hat/which was woolly and red,/while holding his mouse/in its house of sky blue,/and wearing his shoes/which were hidden but new,/he did with his boots on.." Hawkes's quirky, old-fashioned paintings add a great deal to the rollicking text. For example, when the boy receives the shoes, the illustration shows him extending a newly shod foot as he soars on a tire swing, a bird singing from the top of his red woolly hat, the mouse in a Fred Astaire pose outside its house, and a happy, striped cat clinging to the tire. On the final spread, the boy's hat flies off because of the frosty, windy heights atop an elephant's back, prompting his mother to yell, "It is very clear that you must have a new hat." A bonus picture on the copyright page shows the child and his animal friends protected from the falling snow by a giant sombrero. For those yet to experience Kuskin's work, this is a delightful door through which to enter her special universe, and legions of fans will be thankful that this story has been given new life.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
What a joy to read aloud verse that scans, rhymes, and brims with repetition -- while also continually surprising with its twists of sound and sequence! In this rollicking cumulative tale, first published with illustrations by Kuskin herself (rev. 12/76), a boy has a mother "who bought him a hat, / red as a _rose / and it kept off the snows" -- but she doesn't stop there. The boy so welcomes his indulgent mother's succession of gifts that he takes them all wherever he goes -- shoes in the ocean, boots in his bath, even skis ("and though a beginner / he wore them one night / to his Grandma's for dinner"). Seasons progress, and the gifts grow more outlandish: "She bought him an elephant. / But not just a small one -- a heavy, grey, tall one." Hawkes gets into the tall-tale spirit with exuberant views of the wide-eyed boy striding along in his accumulating footgear, hurtling across generous white space, or playing his "elegant cello" atop that elephant with a crew of animals who've joined this cheerful romp -- an apt setting for Kuskin's _comical hijinks. When, at last, that absurdly voluminous woolly red hat blows away and mother rushes off to buy her son a new one, it's an enticement to go right back to the beginning. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Hawkes produces new illustrations to accompany Kuskin's cumulative poem, originally published in 1976, which begins simply enougha mother buys a boy a red, woolly hat. The story then unapologetically leaves logic behind, veering off on a nonsensical course directed by the need for the next rhyme and the desire for silliness. The boy won't take off the hat, a fact that somehow prompts his mother to buy him a mouse, and some shoes, new boots, yellow skis, a Halloween mask and a cello. Finally, his mother buys an elephant, and it is at this point that the poet seems to lose control of the unwieldy cumulative rhyme with its long series of nested phrases and ends by having the boy lose his hat. The poet's devoted fans will likely not be bothered by this, and they will enjoy the clever details added by the tongue-in-cheek illustrations, which, in deadpan fashion, pile on the accessories until the red-hatted boy sits astride his elephant, playing his cello and wearing skis. Look for grandma's blue in-line skates! (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When it was first published, in 1976, this poetic romp featured Kuskin's own illustrations. This new edition showcases the late poet's mastery of verse and her acute awareness of both children's senses of humor and the value they place on special belongings. As a young boy receives increasingly silly gifts from his mother, he insists on using them simultaneously and is soon sporting not only a hat but also fancy shoes, fireman boots, skis, and a Halloween mask, all while cavorting around in the snow on the back of an elephant, carrying a mouse in a house, and playing a cello. Hawkes' pictures lack the energy of the text, but they are skillfully executed and include some hidden surprises. As the gifts accumulate, so will the giggles: just see if you can make it through the cumulative rhyme in one breath without cracking up! The adventure comes full circle when the time comes for the little boy to replace his well-loved and well-worn hat, just as the time has also come for this bundle of fun to find a new life in its updated edition.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2010 Booklist