Loop the Loop - Hardcover

Dugan, Barbara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688096476 ISBN 13: 9780688096472

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1992

Synopsis

"I'm Methuselah, and I'm nine hundred and sixty-nine years old. Who are you?" Anne shrugged. "Nobody." "Nobody!" Mrs. Simpson shouted. "That's good!"

Mrs. Simpson is like no one else Anne has ever met. She travels in a wheelchair and performs fabulous yo-yo tricks. Anne thinks Mrs. Simpson is magnificent! And so will you!

About this title

About the Authors

Barbara Dugan was born in Wayzata, Minnesota, and now lives there with her husband and two sons. She received her B.A. degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, and she has worked as a registered nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

In Her Own Words...

"I was born and raised in Wayzata, Minnesota. The neighborhood where I grew up was full of kids and trees and middle-class homes. As a child I roamed my neighborhood as a cowgirl, a gas-station attendant, a beauty operator, a spy. By the age of nine the Dairy Queen beckoned. I must go there on my bike. The railroad track stretched endlessly, and there was a big lake to explore. Who could stay home?

"When I was at home, I spent a lot of time drawing. No other activity made me feel quite so good. While drawing, I often held a conversation inside my head. Then the picture became a story; the people on paper had a life.

"During my elementary years I attended a local Catholic school that went through the eighth grade. Most of my teachers were nuns who taught everything from the fine points of the English language to the necessity of carrying a handkerchief. The sisters inculcated a strong sense of social responsibility: We sang at hospitals, wrote letters to servicemen, earned money for the poor. Dare I choose a frivolous future occupation? Certainly not.

"After graduating from high school, I chose Nursing as my college major. My family was surprised, as I had always been "the squeamish one." My mother was grateful for my decision because she had feared I would become an artist, run off to Greenwich Village, and marry a kook.

"As it turned out, I married my high school sweetheart (no kook) and discovered I liked working as a nurse. Medicine fascinated me and so did the very sick babies I looked after in Neonatal Intensive Care. Still, what I wanted to do most of all was write books for children. So after five years I left my job as a nurse and pursued my desire to become a writer. In 1989 I sold my first story, Loop the Loop, to Greenwillow Books.

"The pictures from my childhood are inside me now. But the characters are just as alive as they were then. For me, storytelling is caring about what goes on in all of our lives, the whole human drama. I love writing and look forward to telling many more tales."

James Stevenson is an op-ed contributor to the New York Times. His popular column, "Lost and Found New York," has appeared regularly in the newspaper since 2003. He was on the staff of The New Yorker for more than three decades; his work includes 2,000 cartoons and 80 covers, as well as reporting and fiction. He is also the author and illustrator of over 100 children's books. He lives in Connecticut.

Reviews

Grade 2-4-- A yo-yo is at the center of a friendship that unfolds between a sensitive, bored child and a feisty old woman who is becoming increasingly unable to care for herself. Anne spends her days playing with Eleanor, her doll, until she meets Mrs. Simpson, a wheelchair-bound neighbor, and her cat, Bertrand. When Mrs. Simpson's must enter a nursing home, Anne cares for Bertrand and in the end trades Eleanor for the cat. This reversal of caretaker roles brings home the universality of human frailties and feelings at all stages of life. This is a poignant tale of love and empathy between generations. As always, Stevenson effectively uses his deceptively childlike illustrations to complement and reinforce the text. Books such as Norma Farber's How Does It Feel to Be Old? (Dutton, 1988) and Gail Radley's Nothing Stays the Same Forever (Crown, 1981; o.p.) could be used to further underscore the concept. A thought-provoking book that can be used by counselors and classroom teachers to lead students into an awareness of the special relationships that can develop between people of all ages. --Joyce Richards, Prairie Grove Elementary School, AR
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This book is probably the best intergenerational story since The Canada Geese Quilt (Cobblehill, 1989). Written with simplicity, utter lack of sentimentality and great good humor, it tells how young Anne befriends a senior citizen in the park--who, it turns out, does terrific yo-yo tricks and says of herself, "I'm magnificent and I know it!" Upbeat Mrs. Simpson invites Anne and her mother to tea and tells the girl she may jump on the chairs if she likes--"no one uses them anyway." When Mrs. Simpson later falls in an accident and must move to a nursing home, Anne maintains their friendship, smuggling in a cat for her friend to hug. Dugan's debut book tells a marvelously funny and affectionate story without a single false note. Stevenson's illustrations, as usual, are lively, apt and appealing; his drawings have just the right bite for the saucy Mrs. Simpson. Though somewhat long for the traditional picture-book format, this will make an excellent read-aloud. Alternately uproarious and touching--Mrs. Simpson's bursts of song are particularly hilarious--the story presents a subtle message that may spark discussions on aging; or, children can simply enjoy this book for the sheer fun of it. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Illustrator Stevenson takes to wheels twice this month: in his own book about babies (below) and, here, in Dugan's fine debut--the story of a friendship between a little girl and a feisty but increasingly forgetful neighbor in a wheelchair. Mrs. Simpson invites Anne to tea and shows her some terrific yo-yo tricks. When she's hospitalized, Anne adopts her cat; later, visiting her in a nursing home, Anne gives Mrs. Simpson her beloved doll, thus completing the circle suggested in the title (the name of a yo-yo game)--the old lady assures Anne that ``I know all about babies.'' The brisk narrative is full of funny, poignant conversations in which Mrs. Simpson mixes past and present; skillfully, Dugan balances the underlying sadness of her situation with the warmhearted humor that makes it bearable. Stevenson's depictions of the perky, sympathetic child and her beaming, if somewhat batty, friend hit just the right note of gentle humor and affection. A frequent theme, treated with unusual insight and imagination. (Young reader. 5-10) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688096476
• ISBN 13: 9780688096472
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Stevenson James
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32