The Sorely Trying Day (New York Review Books Children's Collection)
by Russell Hoban
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When Father comes home at the end of a sorely trying day, he finds all the family fighting and scolding after a sequence of events for which no one is willing to take the blame.Tags
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I noticed that this book was being reprinted by the New York Review Books Children Collection, so I borrowed a copy of the older edition to see what it was like.
A father comes home after a day at the office and finds chaos. "Is this the sort of welcome I get after a sorely trying day?" he asks. The blame is traced from one naughty child to another and finally back to the cat and then the mouse, who volunteers to take the blame and be eaten....but the cat says...."Who do you think you are...to put on such airs of nobility and unselfish heroism?" and refuses to eat him. This starts a chain reaction of apology moving backwards through the animals and children until the mouse arrives home and finds....chaos. "Is this the sort of welcome I show more get after a sorely trying day?" he laments.
The Victorian flavor of the story and language, along with tongue-in-cheek humor - the children are punished by not being allowed to press flowers - reminds me a little of Else Holmelund Minarik's No Fighting! No Biting! another nouveau old-fashioned book. This might appeal to Lemony Snicket fans, but I see great difficulty in convincing them to read it. I found it amusing and Hoban's illustrations fun, but I think few others would see the appeal.
Verdict: I liked it but found it too dated for practical library use
ISBN: 978-1590173435; Published March 2010 by NYR Children's Collection (new edition); Borrowed from the library show less
A father comes home after a day at the office and finds chaos. "Is this the sort of welcome I get after a sorely trying day?" he asks. The blame is traced from one naughty child to another and finally back to the cat and then the mouse, who volunteers to take the blame and be eaten....but the cat says...."Who do you think you are...to put on such airs of nobility and unselfish heroism?" and refuses to eat him. This starts a chain reaction of apology moving backwards through the animals and children until the mouse arrives home and finds....chaos. "Is this the sort of welcome I show more get after a sorely trying day?" he laments.
The Victorian flavor of the story and language, along with tongue-in-cheek humor - the children are punished by not being allowed to press flowers - reminds me a little of Else Holmelund Minarik's No Fighting! No Biting! another nouveau old-fashioned book. This might appeal to Lemony Snicket fans, but I see great difficulty in convincing them to read it. I found it amusing and Hoban's illustrations fun, but I think few others would see the appeal.
Verdict: I liked it but found it too dated for practical library use
ISBN: 978-1590173435; Published March 2010 by NYR Children's Collection (new edition); Borrowed from the library show less
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Russell Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. He attended art school in Philadelphia and during World War II, he served in the Army and earned a Bronze Star. He taught art in New York and Connecticut, and also worked as an advertising copywriter and a freelance illustrator before beginning his career as a writer. He began show more publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including What Does It Do and How Does It Work?, Bedtime for Frances and the six other books featuring Frances, The Story of Hester Mouse Who Became a Writer, What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, and The Mouse and His Child, which was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In 1973, he published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. His other books for adults include Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, and Ridley Walker. He received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award for Ridley Walker. He died on December 13 at the age of 86. In 2015 he made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for his title Jim's Lion wth illlustrator Alexis Deacon. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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