Review by Booklist Review
As Sadie, an ecstatic youngster, and her slightly less-exuberant father set off for a visit to the zoo, she recounts the unexpected factors that have hindered their previous, failed field trips, including an injured mom, a missing dog, and visiting grandparents. Nothing, she insists, will get in their way this time. And then it starts to rain. As they continue to drive, and the storm worsens, Sadie tries to convince her dad that, from her vantage point in the backseat, the weather doesn't seem so bad: people are wearing sunglasses, watering their lawns, and eating ice cream. But when the duo arrive and get out of the car, even Sadie can't deny that it's pouring. Back into the car they go, but halfway home, the rain stops, and turning back, they make it to the zoo At last! Based on the father-and-daughter creative team's real-life events, this joyful, well-paced title offers an ode to imaginative perspectives, all winningly illustrated in the watercolor-and-pencil artwork, and will read aloud well to a crowd.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This father-and-daughter team's account of a family car trip, inspired by real-life family history, is one continuous smile of a story. It's narrated by Sadie, who details the mishaps that have prevented their family from reaching the zoo in the past ("One day when we were supposed to go to the zoo, my mom tripped over a toy fire engine. So we went to the hospital instead of the zoo"), then describes a new dilemma as she and her father try again. "Sadie, it's raining," her father says. But Sadie's not giving in so easily, insisting that it's not raining on her side of the car. "People are putting on their sunglasses and heading to zoos all over the world on my side of the car," she thinks to herself. Feiffer's sweet and loopy watercolor-and-pencil drawings follow Sadie's imaginings and explanations for wet car windows ("People on my side of the car are watering their lawns"); their arrival at the zoo is almost beside the point. Sadie's cheerful sass and her father's obvious respect for and indulgence of the force of her imagination make this a keeper. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-"My dad and I are going to the zoo," Sadie declares on the first page. In the past, various mishaps have gotten in the way of this excursion, but, this time, "Nothing can stop us," she says and believes. But soon raindrops start to fall, and Dad says, "Sadie, it's raining. We can't go to the zoo." Sadie claims, "It's not raining on my side of the car." This line of wishful thinking becomes grander and funnier as they get closer and closer and the (real) world around them gets wetter and wetter. Even so, a happy ending is in store for the zoo-going pair. Told in an effectively simple first-person voice, the story is enhanced by the wonderful pictures, watercolor and pencil drawings with expressive lines and beautiful blobs of color. Another fun book from a notable father-daughter team, this one is based on a childhood memory.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2011. 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
Every child who has insisted on her view of the world despite all evidence to the contrary will relate to Sadie, who just knows that, even though it might be raining on her father's side of the car, it is not raining on her side of the car, and therefore a trip to the zoo does not need to be postponed. As Dad's side of the car gets grayer and more dismal, Sadie's sideview fills up with sunflowers and colorfully dressed people (knobbly and rubber-boned in the characteristic Feiffer style) eating ice cream and going on family expeditions. This triumph of hope over grim, damp reality seems doomed when a sea of mud does indeed lie between the car and the zoo, but the story performs a neat little about-face and ends on a note of pure joy. Gentle watercolors and a dancing pencil line match and support the deadpan text: "One drop has fallen on my side of the car. It might not even be a whole drop. It looks more like half a drop." Sadie is right: If you can just keep the story alive you might get to the zoo after all. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2011. 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
An endearing father-daughter episode based on family history. Lots of family stories are of interest only to those who lived them. But if your father just happens to be a brilliant illustrator (and if you're a darned good writer yourself) you might find that sharing a childhood memory is a great way to create an engaging, imaginative and humorous picture book. Sadie, the narrator, briefly describesher family'spreviously fruitless efforts to visit the zoo.There's the time her mom tripped and broke her foot on the way to the car (they wound up at the hospital) and the time her grandparents visited unexpectedly (they wound up at the museum). Small wonder, then,that she's not going to let a little bad weather stand in her way. When Sadie's patient papa points out that it's started to drizzle, then rain in earnest, Sadie repeatedlyinsists it's not raining on her side. Thedeadpan tone of thetext heightens the humor of the father-daughter dialogue, while the elder Feiffer's antic illustrations play up the ridiculousness of Sadie's increasingly firm (and utterly unfounded) description of the landscape. Forced at last to admit that it'spouring buckets, Sadie generously decides that she doesn't want her dad to get wet and gives in. Luckily things start to look up partway homeand the happy ending features the beginning of their zoo adventure. Utterly charming.(Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
