The Happy Hocky Family - Hardcover

Smith, Lane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670852066 ISBN 13: 9780670852062

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1993

Synopsis

The author of Glasses (Who Needs 'Em?) introduces young readers to the whimsical world of the happy Hocky family--Baby Hocky; his brother Henry, who chases his sister with a dead spider; and Holly, who awakens her brother with a tuba blast.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Step aside, Dick and Jane, or the very hilarious Happy Hocky Family might just run you over. Deftly parodying the repetitious, simplistic sentence structure of basal readers with lots! of exclamation points, Smith adds his signature prankishness to a series of banal family escapades: "I have a balloon. Do you have a balloon? I have a balloon. My balloon is red. If you had a balloon, what color would it be? My balloon is red. POP! I have a string. Do you have a string? I have a string." In keeping with the campy tone, the artwork has a stylishly retrograde appeal, featuring smiley-faced stick figures block-printed in primary colors onto beige construction paper-quality pages. Unlike the frenzied intersection of word, image and design that distinguishes the artist's previous works (including The Big Pets and, with author Jon Scieszka, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales ), the comic impact of this book derives from Smith's deliberate pacing. Each punchline is delivered with a master comedian's timing. Go, Smith, go. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Seventeen extremely short stories to delight the pre-primer crowd and their younger sibs. Smith parodies the smugly middle- class textbook, transforming boringly repeated lines into comic resignation in such dramas as a burst balloon: ``I have a balloon. Do you have a balloon? I have a balloon. My balloon is red...POP! I have a string. Do you have a string? I have a string.'' The Hockies may be a classic family of parents, boy, girl, baby, and pet, but these events--like those in Mother Goose or schoolyard lore--hinge on misfortune: ants escape; the contents of pockets shrivel in the wash; grandmother's perfume smells like too many flowers; a cousin habitually breaks toys; sibs exact retributive justice. The stories' easy informality is supported by illustrations featuring wonderfully expressive stick figures on paper-bag tan, spiced up with touches of bright red, blue, and mustard; Smith's graphics are disarmingly simple, but nonetheless expertly deployed. Fun for all. (Easy reader. 3-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0670852066
• ISBN 13: 9780670852062
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64