WHY A DISGUISE? - Softcover

Numeroff Joffe, Laura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689825307 ISBN 13: 9780689825309

Publisher: Aladdin, 1999

Synopsis

The best-selling author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie returns with a humorous story that shows how useful it can be for kids to assume disguises, especially when they have to do something they don't want to do. Reprint.

About this title

From Booklist

Ages 4^-8. Pictures on the copyright page set up this splendid story that celebrates children's delight in putting something over on grown-ups. A disguise--a beard, a glaringly red nose, and a pair of green glasses--found in a garbage can inspires some imaginative action on the part of a little boy, who uses his new identity to add comical zip to his daily activities. With every turn of the page, there's new mischief, convincing and ridiculous at the same time: "Wear it when relatives come over . . . they won't pinch your cheek and say, `My, how you've grown.'" "Don't lend it to your sister. She might put it on when it's her turn to set the table." McPhail's signature characters are easily recognizable, but his watercolors here are lighter and brighter than in many of his recent books. He has used fewer dramatic, cross-hatched details, too, relying more on lightly sketched outlines. But the pictures catch the quiet comedy perfectly, with much of the fun coming from seeing the grown-ups so surprised. Then, too, there's the delicious thrill of pretending to be someone else and the tantalizing prospect of little hands holding the reins of power for a change. Stephanie Zvirin

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?This story starts on the title page, when a young boy acquires a discarded mask (glasses, nose, and an attached beard). Next, he faces some of life's least-favorite challenges (meeting a bully, eating lima beans, being pinched on the cheek), and seems to successfully avoid them with the help of the disguise. Numeroff has again found the level of humor that so delights youngsters. They will laugh out-loud at the tricks brought to life in McPhail's playful ink-and-watercolor drawings. A good choice for story times and for sparking discussion of other handy uses of disguises.?Kathy East, Wood County District Public Library, OH
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0689825307
• ISBN 13: 9780689825309
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: McPhail David