THE DISCONTENTED MOTHER

by Ben Sheeter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 1980

Shades of Where the Wild Things Are, but only at the start. Reverberations of The Runaway, Bunny, but with a jokey wind-up instead of a quiet wind-down. Beginning, middle, or end, however, it isn't very much--especially as illustrated with heavy pencil sketches that lack Schecter's special miniature-scale finesse. The story: ""One day when Orin was misbehaving, as he sometimes did, his mother said, 'Won't you ever change?' That night Orin wished he could change."" And so we next see him as a cat, promising to keep his mother warm at night (""I have a hot water bottle""); an elephant (""I'm afraid of high places""): a bear (""Your [hugs] are too tight""), etc. His mother does, however, ""love walruses""--""but you are much too big to hold."" A sigh: ""Then I will become a little boy again."" At which his mother (""I have a better idea"") turns into a walrus. It's a surprise, all right, but that's about the book's only distinction.

Pub Date: Sept. 11, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S