Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5^-9. At his death in 1991, Dr. Seuss left 14 pages of sketches and notes for a story about what he called a "pretty different" teacher named "Miss Bonkers." How this turned into a book titled Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! is explained in an afterword. Essentially it involved commissioning poet Prelutsky and illustrator Smith to finish what Seuss had started. Unsurprisingly, the result is a little Seuss and a lot of Smith and Prelutsky. The completed text, which adds a whimsical story that celebrates individuality, is more faithful to the Seussian spirit (and latter-day didacticism) than the collage pictures, which owe as much to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as they do to The Cat in the Hat. On the other hand, Smith's art--as art--is considerably more successful than the singsong text with its often uninspired rhymes. A must purchase for collectors and adult students of Seuss, of course. But as for kids--why not simply introduce them to the real stuff? --Michael Cart
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Dr. Seuss's name towers over the title on the jacket here, setting up readers to measure the book withinextrapolated from scanty manuscript and sketchesagainst the late artist's classic works. While such a comparison is almost certain to disappoint, it also distracts from an appreciation of the fruitful collaboration between the ebullient Prelutsky (The Dragons Are Singing Tonight) and the innovative Smith (The Stinky Cheese Man). Given some rough art and verses and a list of characters that were compiled by Seuss in 1988 or 1989, Prelutsky and Smith fashion a plot, message and visual milieu (see Children's Books, Feb. 9). Zesty rhymes, some of them Seuss's own, catalogue the eccentric staff of Diffendoofer School. Then trouble threatens: the students must take a standardized test to prove Diffendoofer's worth, lest the school be closed and everyone sent to Flobbertown ("And we shuddered at the name,/ For everyone in Flobbertown/ Does everything the same"). The valiant Miss Bonkers inspires her troops. Balancing a globe on one finger, she proudly declaims: "We've taught you that the earth is round,/ That red and white make pink,/ And something else that matters more-/ We've taught you how to think." Smith pastes in some Seuss sketches and invites Seuss characters and book jackets into his collages. The look, however, is very much Smith's; his style is so strong that it subsumes the Seussian elements in evidence (not just the collaged art but the typeface, the colored pages, the tilt of a given character's nose, etc.). Perhaps the richest rewardfor adults if not for childrenis the absorbing, meaty afterword by editor Janet Schulman, which allows readers a view of Seuss's draft and gives rare insight into the creative process. Ages 5-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 6ÄThe original talents of Prelutsky and Smith bring an unfinished Dr. Seuss story to life-and what a story it is! The tale revolves around Diffendoofer School, a place where teachers make their own rules and students are taught to think. Their curriculum is an unusual one, covering such topics as "smelling," "laughing," and "how to tell a cactus from a cow," and the school is staffed by people who break all the stereotypes. When the principal informs the students that they must pass a rigorous test or risk being sent to dreary Flobbertown, the tension is palpable, but the inimitable Miss Bonkers is certain they'll pass. In fact, they receive the highest score, saving their school and their rather unorthodox education as well. The story fairly jumps off the page, as do the bright, exuberant collage and oil illustrations, which look like a combination of the familiar Seussian style and Smith's own. A sense of fun reigns supreme, and school comes off looking like a great place to be. Dr. Seuss's well-known books and characters (and even Ted Geisel himself) make cameo appearances throughout the work. The editor's notes on the process of creating the book include original sketches and ideas from Geisel's notebooks. This outstanding work is a must for all collections. Buy extra copies-and be sure to include one for the professional shelf as well. It's a great tribute to the importance of creative thinking in the classroom.ÄNancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
With some help from Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith. Given an unfinished manuscript (some sketches, snippets of verse, and jottings of names--but no plot) retrieved after Seuss's death, Prelutsky and Smith have brought this fragment to fruition in a style that does credit to all three artists. Grown-ups will enjoy figuring out who's responsible for what here. Kids will simply delight in the outlandish capers. What better honor could be paid to the memory of Dr. Seuss? From HORN BOOK Fall 1998, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When Theodor Geisel died in 1991, he had left behind a half-sketched idea for a book, an ode to joy and eccentricity in education. Enter the nimble Prelutsky and dexterous Smith to finish the project, about a school run by a gaggle of latitudinarians``Miss Bobble teaches listening,/Miss Wobble teaches smelling,/Miss Fribble teaches laughing,/And Miss Quibble teaches yelling.'' Their charges take to the curriculum likes bees to honey, until the dour principal Mr. Lowe (``We think he wears false eyebrows. In fact, we're sure it's so. We've heard he takes them off at night . . . I guess we'll never know'') informs them that they must pass a standardized test, or the school will be closed and the students shuffled off to dreary Flobbertown. They pass muster, wholesale, and send choruses of the ``Diffendoofer Song'' to the heavens. The magic here is in the marriage of Seuss, Prelutsky, and Lane: The Prelutsky voice is delightfully obvious, but he has blended whole slices of Seussian verse into his lines, while Smith has laced the crazy, deliciously colored artwork with cameos of characters and books that any of Dr. Seuss's fans will recognize. A lengthy afterword (containing reproductions of Geisel's early drafts) by his editor, Janet Schulman, explains how the book evolved. It's a model collaboration, because the spirits involvedincluding Schulman'sare so obviously kindred. (Picture book. 4-10)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
