She Did It! - Hardcover

Ericsson, Jennifer A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374367760 ISBN 13: 9780374367763

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2002

Synopsis

Antics galore capture the everyday challenge of having siblings

Who did it? Four sisters – different ages, different interests,
but all bursting with energy – are about to bounce, leap, trip, and tumble right into trouble. As they charge full speed ahead into their high-spirited day – grabbing brushes, squeezing paste, splashing water in their haste, washing faces, combing hair, soggy towels tossed everywhere – each blames the others for one mishap after another until finally they are all in trouble. Only then do they discover that having siblings can be useful, and fun!

With its exuberant illustrations and perceptive insights into family dynamics, this funny, mischievous romp in verse will have even the youngest listeners chiming in with glee, “She did it!”

About this title

About the Author

Jennifer A. Ericsson is a children’s librarian and the author of The Most Beautiful Kid in the World, an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. She lives in Concord, New Hampshire.

Nadine Bernard Westcott’s many books for children include Hello Toes! Hello Feet!, a Child magazine Best Book of the Year. She lives on Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3--Westcott's impeccable cartoons are brimming with kooky and homey trimmings to create the personalities of "Four sisters,/different sizes." The girls join in chaotic antics that result in the finger-pointing of the title. Finally banished by mother's exhausted patience over ruined laundry, a devastated bathroom, a gooey kitchen, and fighting, the quartet works together to rein in the mess, then brags, "We did it!" as Mom lounges for a quiet cup of tea- maybe. Ericsson's rhymed story tells of siblings who shove for a drink, burp at the table, and ride bikes in a row. Even children without siblings will grow fond of this mischievous but loving family.
Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Whenever something goes wrong in this all-female household (consisting of Mother and "four sisters, different sizes"), Mother can count on one thing a flurry of finger-pointing. Who created havoc in the bedroom? Who turned the bathroom into a water-and-personal-care-products hazard? And what about the board game fracas: "Start to argue, start to fight," writes Ericsson (No Milk!), "Each believing she is right./ Staring, glaring, trading smacks,/ Shrieking, weeping, more attacks." The answer is always, "She did it!" Banished to their room, the sisters decide to redeem themselves in Mom's eyes by cleaning up their mess. Working together as a team clearly helps tie the sisterly bonds a little tighter, too when Mom admires the girls' handiwork, they proudly embrace one another and shout, "We did it!" Westcott's (Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash) watercolors are typically at their best when depicting bedlam, and this book is no exception she packs the sisters' scenes with funny details (most of which involve the family's pets, for good or ill), and the nervous energy in her wispy ink lines makes every scene vibrate with comic chaos. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 2-4. An active, bouncing rhyme and bright ink-and-watercolor pictures capture the domestic chaos generated by four sisters from the time they wake up ("pillows fly, beds bounce") and get washed to when they grab breakfast, play, and fight ("Staring, glaring, trading smacks, / Shrieking, weeping, more attacks"). At each juncture, their frantic mom demands to know the culprit (Who made her slip in the bathroom? Who threw the gooey grape jam that made her stick to the chair?), and the sisters point to one another. But when the girls finally get sent to their room in disgrace, they clean up together, and this time their answer is, "We did it!" From burps and giggles to snorts and jiggles, the rhyme, with noisy words that sound like their meaning, is great for reading aloud, and, as always, Westcott adds a wealth of slapstick detail that will make kids look closely at the mayhem and recognize their own messy habits. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374367760
• ISBN 13: 9780374367763
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Westcott Nadine Bernard
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32