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I'D LIKE TO TRY A MONSTER'S EYE by Judith Thurman

I'D LIKE TO TRY A MONSTER'S EYE

By

Pub Date: March 9th, 1977
Publisher: Atheneum

For a child who usually sees the world from ""three feet above sea level,"" trying out new viewpoints is both natural and strange, and Rubel's illustrations--of a circus floor, down past her own feet, through a tightrope walker's eyes; of two fat, babyish bare feet from a bug's view; of an open mouth (""my dentist"")--catch the disorientation and the plausibility of the views. There's nothing mind expanding here; sometimes Thurman is just idly playful (with x-ray sight, her little girl sees passers-by as clothed skeletons), sometimes she abandons her theme to be clever (a snake g u e s s s s e s back and forth across the page), and the closing lines--from the little girl to her parents--ring falsely sentimental: ""Don't turn the light off yet; I love the view of you two."" But overall it's a pleasantly jolting exercise that could inspire further exploration.