I Forgot

Though he always seems to forget something that he's supposed to do, Jake surprises his mother by remembering something really important

PreSchool-K-- Poor Jake forgets something as he goes through his day, and his mother is there to point out every oversight. What a surprise to find, at the end, that his activities involved planning, buying, wrapping, and presenting his mother's birthday gift: he remembered her birthday. This simple story features colorful line and watercolor illustrations. Large, chunky characters look out of cartoon-dot eyes. Rogan has added humorous touches to the layouts. Robins tug on opposite ends of a worm; the pet cat holds an umbrella during a bath scene while a wet dog does a handstand--a bit puzzling in an otherwise realistic story. In a book that depends on illustration to convey the progression of the birthday preparations, humor is a problem when it upstages the centrality of Jake's actions. A dog drags its unknown owner as Jake speeds to the store. While Jake checks his purchases, a baby lobs its rattle at a scowling man in the foreground. One hardly notices that he is trying to hide mother's presents because the spotlight is on the cat's elaborate ribbon-winding. The dog-washing scene is an extra that has nothing to do with birthday plans. Because of this competition, children may need more than one reading to see that this small boy's forgetfulness is not a series of episodes but the by-product of his rush to surprise his mother. There are other books on forgetfulness, but this story has the hopeful message that one can remember and carry out important tasks--Jake's wink at the end tells us so. --Jane Saliers, Atlanta Public Library
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.