Louie

After posting my thoughts on Goggles by Ezra Jack Keats, a reader tweeted me about their favorite series of Keats's books which feature a little boy named Louie. Curious about a series I seemed to have completely missed, I put all of the books on hold at my local library.

Louie by Ezra Jack Keats is about a boy who is another member of the gang of kids who play with Peter (The Snowy Day, Peter's Chair, Goggles, etc.) Louie appears to be one of the youngest kids, and one of the shiest.

The other children are busy putting on a puppet show for the neighborhood, with characters and props made from the things they've found in the alley and perhaps brought from home, 1970s up-cycling. Louie, though, is completely taken in by their work and is a show more little disruptive to the show.

Although Louie is eventually made to stay quiet for the play, the other kids don't hold a grudge or ostracize him. Instead, they find a way to include him, resulting in a heartwarming ending. show less

This made more of an impact on me, personally, than some of the other neighborhood stories. I'm glad that there are three Louie books because I want to get to know this child better; I don't know if he's in any of the other books but I sure felt dropped in medias res here.

I think everyone who works with elementary kids has a book that never fails to choke them up. This one is mine. The illustrations of the city streets remind me of W. 14th St in New York. Those images, the homage to Magritte in the billboards, and the kindness shown towards Louie never fail to touch me no matter how many times I read this.

This beautifully illustrated picture book by Ezra Jack Keats is about a young boy who falls in love with a puppet at Susie and Roberto's neighborhood puppet show. Louie's fascination with the puppet, Gussie, brings out Louie's personality, and the children end up giving Gussie to Louie out of love and generosity at the end of the story. Although the pictures are great, I think that this book is quite dark for very young children. The elements of teasing and sadness seem a little too deep. This book is on a second grade reading level.

For more information about Ezra Jack Keats and his children's books, visit: http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/

This was an odd little book that leaves room for imagination at the end. The book is about a boy who has never spoken a word to his class mates until one night at a student-hosted puppet show. One puppet who looks like a clown comes "on stage" and Louie, says "Hello!" to the puppet. He stands up in the middle of the audience and is talking to the puppet. The puppet people decide to have the puppet tell Louie that he needs to sit down so they can get on with the show. After the show, Louie hugs the puppet until the puppet owner tells him they have to go. The puppet owner gives the puppet to Louie. The book ends there, and never explains why that puppet made Louie talk, or why he was so happy to see and have the puppet.

Louie is a book about a kid named Louie who is quiet and didn't talk much to the other kids. When two other kids put on a puppet show, Louie shows a huge attachment to one of the puppets, Gussie. When Louie goes home, he dreams about Gussie, and when he wakes up, Gussie is outside his door waiting for him. This book teaches kids about being kind to everyone. The illustrations are beautiful; They look painted on the paper.

Quiet and timid Louie makes an unlikely freindship the instant he sees a puppet named Gussie at a puppet show put on by his freinds. The attraction is strong and he instantly know they belong together. Though his freinds found this strange, they decided to let Louie keep Gussie probably because he doesn't seem to have many other friends.