The big baby: A little joke - Hardcover

Browne, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1856810372 ISBN 13: 9781856810371

Publisher: Julia MacRae Books, 1993

Synopsis

In his effort to stay young, John's father drinks a whole bottle of ELIXA DE YOOF, with surprising results.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthony Browne is the acclaimed author and illustrator of such prize-winning bestsellers as Gorilla (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Kurt Maschler Award), Willy the Wizard and Zoo (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal). In 2009, Anthony was appointed Children's Laureate, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the world of picture books. Voices in the Park won the 1998 Kurt Maschler Award and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Anthony was also the winner of the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration. Anthony has also written the immensely popular titles King Kong (1994), My Dad (2000), My Mum (2005) and My Brother (2007).

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3-It's hard to know what children will make of this exploration of a vain, self-absorbed adult's fear of growing old. John Young's father fits his name-he wears youthful clothes, sports "young hair styles," prefers rock music, and has a roomful of "toys." Because he takes to his bed every time he feels the slightest bit ill, his wife calls him a "Big Baby." The day after he drinks "Elixa de Yoof" tonic, he wakes up to discover that he has turned into a toddler, but with his own face. He is no more interested in playing with his son than he was when he was a grownup. After a long nap, he wakes up his old self-but with his first gray hair. As readers have come to expect from Browne, a sense of playfulness in plot and illustration abounds. Baby bottles and rattles appear in unlikely places in the superrealistic pictures, and paintings on the walls add an extra dimension to the action. The boy narrator never appears in the illustrations. Some children may react strongly to the man-baby's grotesque, almost frightening visage when he tries to play with his blocks and use his potty. However, others will surely find the wacky combination of spare text and bizarre plot to be wonderfully silly. Those who have the opportunity to discuss the book with an adult may find more to it than meets the eye.
Ellen Fader, Oregon State Library, Salem
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Julia MacRae Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1856810372
• ISBN 13: 9781856810371
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 26
• Illustrator: Browne Anthony