Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka (Picture Puffins)

Rating:
Summary: Not up to De Paola's usual snuff
Review: In brief, my husband and I were disappointed in this book. The depiction of the teeth-baring, donkey-like, and definitely not cute pooka is quite sinister--I thought my 3 1/2 year old would be afraid of it, but she's in a bit of stage where she's intrigued by evil characters lately. The story itself isn't too scary, but in the end the moral basically seems to say that O'Rourke shouldn't have taken pity on the cold, hard-working pooka, that his one act of unselfishness backfires. What kind of lesson is that for a child? We love just about everything else De Paola has published, so this book took us by surprise.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully amusing book
Review: Jamie O'Rourke is the laziest man in all of Ireland. When his wife, Eileen, visits her sister to help with the new baby, Jamie figures the easiest way to keep the house nice and clean is to stay in bed and rest all week. But when his friends come over with a jug of cider to keep him company, and help him eat all the good food Eileen prepared before she left, they leave quite a mess for Jamie to clean up. "...But the mere sight of the messy cottage made him the most tired man in all of Ireland, as well as the laziest. So he went to bed..." In the middle of the night, Jamie was awakened by a noise. There in the cottage was a donkey-like creature, a pooka, standing on two legs, cleaning and washing and sweeping. Jamie couldn't believe his good fortune. Night after night, all week long, his friends came to have a fine old time eating and laughing and making a terrible mess. And every night after Jamie had gone to sleep, the pooka came and cleaned everything up for him. But never fear, this hard working pooka is just too good to last, and Jamie O'Rourke is about to find out the hard way on the night before Eileen comes home..... Tomie dePaola is back with another delightful and entertaining Jamie O'Rourke misadventure. His easy to read, charming text, based on an old Irish folk tale is only outdone by his very engaging and familiar artwork, and youngsters will enjoy all the wonderful facial expressions and humorous detail in each picture. With an author's note at the end explaining the pooka in Irish folklore, Jamie O'Rourke And The Pooka is an endearing, good time read that's perfect for St Patrick's Day, or any other day of the year. Tomie dePaola is an American treasure. You can never go wrong with one of his books.

Rating:
Summary: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.....
Review: Jamie O'Rourke is the laziest man in all of Ireland. When his wife, Eileen, visits her sister to help with the new baby, Jamie figures the easiest way to keep the house nice and clean is to stay in bed and rest all week. But when his friends come over with a jug of cider to keep him company, and help him eat all the good food Eileen prepared before she left, they leave quite a mess for Jamie to clean up. "...But the mere sight of the messy cottage made him the most tired man in all of Ireland, as well as the laziest. So he went to bed..." In the middle of the night, Jamie was awakened by a noise. There in the cottage was a donkey-like creature, a pooka, standing on two legs, cleaning and washing and sweeping. Jamie couldn't believe his good fortune. Night after night, all week long, his friends came to have a fine old time eating and laughing and making a terrible mess. And every night after Jamie had gone to sleep, the pooka came and cleaned everything up for him. But never fear, this hard working pooka is just too good to last, and Jamie O'Rourke is about to find out the hard way on the night before Eileen comes home..... Tomie dePaola is back with another delightful and entertaining Jamie O'Rourke misadventure. His easy to read, charming text, based on an old Irish folk tale is only outdone by his very engaging and familiar artwork, and youngsters will enjoy all the wonderful facial expressions and humorous detail in each picture. With an author's note at the end explaining the pooka in Irish folklore, Jamie O'Rourke And The Pooka is an endearing, good time read that's perfect for St Patrick's Day, or any other day of the year. Tomie dePaola is an American treasure. You can never go wrong with one of his books.

Rating:
Summary: I like this book!
Review: Jamie's wife leaves him for a week and all he has to do is keep the house clean: not a small challenge for the messiest man in Ireland - and the laziest. A magical pooka may be able to help - or perhaps not, in this fun story.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully amusing book
Review: My six year old son and I loved reading this book together. He's now eight and we still enjoy it. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to be amused.