Mama, Papa and Baby Joe - Hardcover

Niki Daly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0370315944 ISBN 13: 9780370315942

Publisher: Bodley Head Children's Books, 1992

Synopsis

Baby Joe and his parents spend a hectic time shopping and stop at a restaurant before they head home

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Jangling rhyme that borders occasionally on gibberish chronicles this family's shopping trip to town. The hustle and bustle of this zany burg and its inhabitants are both familiar and fantastic, as perambulating birds, alligators--one in Moroccan garb--and dinosaurs stride alongside Andy Warhol and Charlie Chaplin. At the supermarket, Baby Joe causes a ruckus, singing and dancing and squirting toothpaste with abandon--"Papa, Mama in a tizzy / Boogie-Woogie in the pram!" Daly's ( Not So Fast, Songololo! ; Look at Me! ) rambling juxtaposition of words (some real, some invented: "Quickero backero tiddly-pom") echoes in an oddly fetching way a toddler's verbal capabilities. His family is a merrily motley crew, with Mama in flowered mini-sundress and ankle-strap heels, Papa in tank top and knit cap and Joe in dotted aqua overalls. Just as the double words here--"oozy-poozy," "pushalong singalong," "okeydokey, clickety clack"--will appeal to youngsters' ears, the wild and wacky infusion of visual treats will delight their eyes. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2--Mama, Papa and Baby Joe' s trip to the store involves helicopters, eels, penguins, weinermobiles, and parents who look like Bette Midler and Waldo. The frenetic text often works at having enough syllables as opposed to making sense: "Baby needs to do a pee-pee,/ Quickero backero tiddly-pom." The pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons are cluttered to the point of distraction. Cameos of Andy Warhol and Charlie Chaplin add nothing to the action as they are overshadowed by fez-adorned alligators and a woman wearing an ark-shaped hat filled with animals. The book captures a harried excursion to the market with a toddler, but the overall result is like going shopping but finding nothing that fits. This effort lacks the language and sense of place that make Daly's Not So Fast, Songololo (McElderry, 1986) such a pleasant experience. It's meant to be a farce, but the lack of focus and odd cadence make for rather jarring reading. --Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo and Erie County Public Lib . , Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bodley Head Children's Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0370315944
• ISBN 13: 9780370315942
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32