Weekend Mischief — Reviews and Media Links
Media Links
Duke News press release 3/11/2010
WRAL.com blog 3/31/2010
Reviews
Children's Literature
So much can happen during the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Dad, the "grumpus," may just help in getting you out of bed with tickles. Perhaps the freshly baked biscuits waiting for eager appetites will charm you. Your short weekend may be scheduled for those "not again" chores (sigh) or an appointment with the slicing clippers at the barbershop. On the other hand, how about thrilling rides and food-filled day at the fair that you wish that you could do all over again? Or a special road trip to visit grandma for the weekend? Those times are just a few that reflect the mischief of the weekend. The hilarious poems share the boring, thrilling, silly, enjoyable memories of different weekends through the perspective of a boy. He sometimes finds the weekend can move all too fast with fun and he shares his idea on how he extends his bedtime. The watercolor, pen and ink illustrations provide addition enjoyment to the collection of poems. Time will fly quickly with laughter when these poems are read aloud. — Carrie Hane Hung
Publishers Weekly
In the follow-up to Animal Mischief, 20 gently humorous rhyming poems celebrate the too short but sweet weekend. Madcap ink-lined caricatures accompany a mixed bag of topics including the torture of getting a haircut, visiting the fair, and a few minor injustices: “how come it rains on the weekend but then/ Gets sunny on Monday when school starts again?” Readers may conclude that many activities aren’t really mischievous (a road trip to grandma’s), but they should relate to the playful spirit of protest. Ages 7–9. (Feb. 2010)
School Library Journal
Twenty poems describe a boy’s weekend, from sleeping late on Saturday morning to being rudely awakened by the ringing alarm the following Monday. There’s fun (like a visit to a fair: “Ring toss and rodeo, World’s fattest man?/Clowns with balloons and kazoos”); chores (“Cut the grass/It grows again/Rake the leaves/It blows again/Shovel snow/It snows again…”); haircuts; interrogations from parents; and more. While set in the present, the pictures depict an old-fashioned world without a TV or video game in sight, and a visit to Grandma’s big old house is considered a great treat. Most of the poems are appealing, with touches of genuine humor. They lack the seemingly effortless flow and simplicity of Prelutsky’s best work, but Beech’s funny and colorful art enhances the verses nicely; his watercolor and ink illustrations bring some of the boy’s ideas to life in a wonderfully exaggerated way. While not an essential purchase, the selections will appeal to fans of light verse. — Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (April 2010)
Kirkus Reviews
Jackson’s poems throw off an antique light. They seem to come from a better, kinder time; they are unselfconscious in a way that makes the recycled feel new, like this might be the first time anyone thought to write about ... (December 15, 2009)
