The RED CARPET

Rating:
Summary: Colorful
Review: This classic 1948 children's poem is another "he-went-that-away." This time readers follow no insects, animals or children--but as the title suggests, a red carpet.

The occasion for this silliness is the expected arrival of the Duke of Sultana at the Hotel Bellevue. The doorknobs were shined, the floors were swept and the carpet was set out. But when the doorman, Jim West, unrolled the carpet with his toe, it kept on rolling.

Down the corridor floor, through the lobby, out through the door, over the sidewalk "where people were strolling," dodging buses and hacks, over trolley car tracks, and so on.

The carpet rolled through town, turned left at Pearl Street, down Main, and at Plum Street turned left again. The Mayor Mr. Potts called the police and Officer Mike O'Shea took up the chase. Squad cars, cycles, motors, and sirens ran up hills and down dales, through orchards and meadows, past workmen and down to the ferry.

The plot is very predictable. But children love this bright red carpet, trailing its way through amusing verse and quaint illustrations.

(...) Alyssa A. Lappen