In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • No Fair! No Fair! and Other Jolly Poems of Childhood by Calvin Trillin
  • Deborah Stevenson
No Fair! No Fair! and Other Jolly Poems of Childhood; illus. by Chast, Roz and Calvin Trillin. Orchard/Scholastic, 2016 [32p]
ISBN 978-0-545-82578-8 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys         R 6-9 yrs

Well-known prose (and sometimes verse) writer for adults Trillin turns here to children in this series of fourteen humorous poems. Aside from a single fantastical entry, verses treat common childhood situations such as getting shots, tying your shoe, and playing with friends, with especially dominant situations such as school, getting up, and winding down in the evening treated to a suite of short entries under an umbrella title. Some of the entries are a little too wordy for their joke and audience, but there’s plenty of kid-level humor about begging for a dog (“We want a pet that we can pet!”) and the unfairness of being forced to take a bath. Legendary New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast provides line and watercolor art that illuminates and energizes; her sequence of shoe-tying examples (labeled “No.” “Nope.” “No sirree, Bob.” “Yes!”) not only supports the poem but is strong enough to be an excellent standalone joke. The art will be best shared one on one, and this may be a particularly good fit for irreverent grandparents, who will enjoy the chaotic possibilities and revel when rulelessness reigns in “The Grandpa Rule Is in Effect.” [End Page 197]

...

pdf

Share