Tom

Rating:
Summary: This is really sick book
Review:

This book gets away with its machismo and inhumaneness by being placed in a "cultural diversity-old world charm" perspective. The theme of "boys will be boys" is presented as integral to family humor, "male bonding," and a cute old grandfather.

"Tom" is unfit for children. It teaches that it's cool to be cruel without any comparable teaching about what animal slaughter truly entails or how the girls feel being taunted by twisted little boys. At the end grandfather and grandson are "wink[ing]" and "think[ing] of something else to do."


Rating:
Summary: An endearing family story
Review: My three-year-old and I love this book. Tommy shares an affectionate, somewhat silly relationship with his grandfather Tom. The grandfather's love of the boy is obvious in the nutty games he plays with chicken parts. Just a little naughty, which of course appeals to a child. I was a teacher and have read many children's books. There is something dear and wonderful about all Tomie dePaola's books and this is one of our favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Tom--by: Tomie dePaola
Review: This story basically tells of a time that a child, Tommy, spent with his beloved namesake grandfather, Tom. It tells of the innocence and gullibility of youth. In the story, Tommy's grandfather, who is a butcher, gives Tommy some chicken legs and shows him how to make them move. In turn, Tommy takes them to school with him and scares all the girls as well as a teacher. He spends the day in the principal's office, and a note is sent home. Tom tells Tommy that they will have to "think of something else to do." I would recommend this book for a child to read with a grandparent.

Rating:
Summary: Tom--by: Tomie dePaola
Review: This story basically tells of a time that a child, Tommy, spent with his beloved namesake grandfather, Tom. It tells of the innocence and gullibility of youth. In the story, Tommy's grandfather, who is a butcher, gives Tommy some chicken legs and shows him how to make them move. In turn, Tommy takes them to school with him and scares all the girls as well as a teacher. He spends the day in the principal's office, and a note is sent home. Tom tells Tommy that they will have to "think of something else to do." I would recommend this book for a child to read with a grandparent.

Rating:
Summary: An endearing family story
Review: TOM centers on the relationship between a boy named Tommy and his grandfather whom he is named after. The two of them do different things together until the action moves to the grandfather's butcher shop, butcher table, and the killing of chickens at the shop. The cover of TOM shows the grandfather smiling at his meat counter with a row of defeathered chickens hanging upside down in shackles with their faces still on in the background. In the book, the grandfather is shown in his back room chopping up chickens while others he has killed there hang upside down in shackles. The grandfather hands Tommy a dead chicken's head to bury in the ground to grow a "chicken bush." Then the grandfather teaches Tommy to scare his classmates and teacher with dead chickens' feet. Several pages show Tommy perfecting this tactic. He paints the claws' toe nails bright red. "Grandfather: 'See that little white string thing? It's called a tendon. If you pull it, the chicken foot opens and closes. Try it.' "Tommy tried. It was scary, but it made him giggle. Tom put two chicken feet in a bag and tied it with string." TOM is an irresponsible book with a desensitizing message. It treats chicken killing and butchering animals as humorous. Scaring women and girls with body parts is presented as hilarious. Tommy is sent to the principal's office for his "prank," not for the cruel and sadistic delight he exhibits. This book gets away with its machismo and inhumaneness by being placed in a "cultural diversity-old world charm" perspective. The theme of "boys will be boys" is presented as integral to family humor, "male bonding," and a cute old grandfather. TOM is unfit for children. It teaches that it's cool to be cruel without any comparable teaching about what animal slaughter truly entails or how "girls" feel being taunted by fresh little boys. At the end grandfather and grandson are "wink[ing]" and think[ing] of something else to do."

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Gift for a Grandparent
Review: What a wonderful way for your child to connect with his or her grandparent. A great opener for conversations and stories and a little history as well. A humorous look at what life was like for Tommy and his grandfather Tom in the the late 1930's.