Bartholomew and the Oobleck : (Caldecott Honor Book)

Rating:
Summary: A great story for making up voices...
Review: Although "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" is different in style than the Dr Seuss books most people are familiar with, it is still a good story. Bartholomew is pageboy to the king, and apparently the smartest person in the kingdom. When the king orders his magicians make "something new" fall from the sky, with disasterous consequences, which threaten to bury the kingdom under an ocean of green sludge, only Bartholomew takes action.

I love doing different voices when I read stories to children, and this book certainly lends itself to that as Bartholomew runs through the castle trying to alert people of the danger, and get help from anyone, exchanging dialogue with a large variety of people along the way.

I'm only giving this book 4 stars, instead of 5, because it doesn't hold the attention of my kids as well as many of the other books we own, but we certainly have a lot of fun with it anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Science is fun, but not always
Review: Bartholomew and the Oobleck is my favorite Seuss. The King wants something new to come from the sky. He's tired of the sun, the rain, the wind and the snow. He sends his magicians to their secret cave in mystic mountain Neekatave. In the morning green sticky oobleck falls from the sky and gums up the entire kingdom. It's great fun watching everything get stickier and sticker. Even the King gets stuck to his throne. Of course Bartholomew saves the day. And the King learns that the right thing to do when you've messed up other people's lives is apologize. Silly me, I'd hoped that my daughter would learn to apologize when she's made a mistake -- if kings can do it --- but she didn't get the message. Still, the book is delightful. I don't see it as an anti-science tale. Yes, lots of folks tried to talk the King out of his experiment, but scientists get that anti-science fear all the time. They have to ignore it or they can't do their jobs. The King didn't fire the magicians. This experiment was a failure. That didn't mean he should give up his throne and quit trying. He apologized, and went on with his life. That's the way life is.

Growing together,

Lois...

Rating:
Summary: The power of two little words!
Review: Boy, this book takes me back when I was very young. I really enjoyed it. And, now that I'm considerably older, I still enjoy it. It is a story about a king who is bored with the things that fall from the sky (for example, rain, snow, etc.) and orders his magicians to make something new. They come up with oobleck, a green, gooey substance. But, when it begins to fall, it messes up everything and the king's page, Bartholomew, teaches the king the power of the words, "I'm sorry." The book was a 1950 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a children's book.

Rating:
Summary: A Power Trip Can Put You in a Sticky Situation!
Review: The King of Didd loved to look into the sky. But he was increasingly unhappy with what he saw -- only rain, snow, fog, and sunshine. As a powerful king, he decided to change things so he could get more.

The book is a wonderful look at the perils of getting what you think you want, a great lesson for children to learn at an early age. Unlike other Dr. Seuss books, this one is mostly in prose. The color in the illustrations is limited to green to flesh out the oobleck. The drawings and the humor though are first rate Dr. Seuss!

Bartholomew is the King's page boy, and the king's source of common sense. When the king decides to call in his magicians to create oobleck, Bartholomew's warnings are unheeded. Even the magicians give a warning, for they have never made oobleck before and don't quite know how it will turn out. Nevertheless, the king orders the magicians to go ahead. When the first green drops hit, the king decides to declare a holiday.

But soon there are problems. Oobleck is very sticky! And it's coming down in ever increasing quantities. What do you do?

The resolution is a particularly good one, for it reinforces the moral that any willful thing we decide to do can be undone if we unbend our will. (It also encourages good manners.)

Reading this book reminded me of when I was about five. I only liked to eat junk food. I begged my parents to buy ever larger quantities. Finally, my mother said. "All right. You're in charge of buying food for yourself this week. You'll have only that to eat." I stocked up on potato chips, candy, soft drinks, and other wonderful snacks. By the fourth day, I couldn't face any more junk food. I begged my mother to take back the job of selecting food for me!

After you finish enjoying the story, I suggest that you also talk to your child about how to get rid of unexpected substances. This can be a great encourager of creativity. For years, I have used an interview question that I learned during a scholarship interview while I was in high school. What would you do if you woke up one morning and the world was covered to a depth of 30 feet by ping pong balls?

A good lesson to reinforce is to encourage your child to consider what could go wrong, and how to handle that, before trying to make some change. That approach is good training for the realities of life.

Enjoy what you have!