The Judge

Rating:
Summary: Liar! Ninnyhammer! Dimwit! Dunce!
Review: After reading a lot of children's books, a person comes to feel they've seen everything there is to see. That nothing can surprise them anymore. And especially, a person may feel that picture books older than thirty years of age are hardly worth crowing about. Then you read a story like, "The Judge".

In this erudite little piece of work, a judge presiding over what looks to be a nineteenth century town locks up his fellow citizenry one by one. As each citizen warns the judge that something terrible is coming, the judge pooh-poohs their cries of alarm and throws them swiftly in jail. With each panicked person, the description of the horrible creature becomes longer and longer:

Its eyes are scary
Its tail is hairy
Its paws have claws
It snaps its jaws
It growls, it groans
It chews up stones
It spreads its wings
And does bad things

If this story were written today the thing would turn out to be something harmless and the judge would let all the people out of the jail because, technically, they were right. HOWEVER... this story was not written today. It was written in 1969. And the ending of this picture book is such a shocking Maurice Sendak-ish piece of work that I don't think anyone could truly appreciate it without seeing it. As the book's blurb says so clearly, "justice is done..." Without a doubt, there will be parents who object to this book's finish as surely as the sun does shine. But there are also going to be parents with a sense of humor who love this book. May I suggest you align yourself with the latter category. It is a very interesting story.

Rating:
Summary: Liar! Ninnyhammer! Dimwit! Dunce!
Review: After reading a lot of children's books, a person comes to feel they've seen everything there is to see. That nothing can surprise them anymore. And especially, a person may feel that picture books older than thirty years of age are hardly worth crowing about. Then you read a story like, "The Judge".

In this erudite little piece of work, a judge presiding over what looks to be a nineteenth century town locks up his fellow citizenry one by one. As each citizen warns the judge that something terrible is coming, the judge pooh-poohs their cries of alarm and throws them swiftly in jail. With each panicked person, the description of the horrible creature becomes longer and longer:

Its eyes are scary
Its tail is hairy
Its paws have claws
It snaps its jaws
It growls, it groans
It chews up stones
It spreads its wings
And does bad things

If this story were written today the thing would turn out to be something harmless and the judge would let all the people out of the jail because, technically, they were right. HOWEVER... this story was not written today. It was written in 1969. And the ending of this picture book is such a shocking Maurice Sendak-ish piece of work that I don't think anyone could truly appreciate it without seeing it. As the book's blurb says so clearly, "justice is done..." Without a doubt, there will be parents who object to this book's finish as surely as the sun does shine. But there are also going to be parents with a sense of humor who love this book. May I suggest you align yourself with the latter category. It is a very interesting story.

Rating:
Summary: I like it!
Review: In fairness to the author, the story is amusing to a point. But is the gory ending necessary? If giving young children nightmares is the aim of this book, then the author/illustrator certainly will hit their mark. A person being eaten by a wild imaginary beast is something I'm very sorry for having exposed my children to.

Rating:
Summary: Please let me go. Judge, I didn't know, Judge...
Review: Perhaps this book isn't suitable for young children, but I think it's wonderful. My mother read this book to my sister and me when we were young and we turned out just fine. Sure, our humors may be a little morbid, but not solely because of this book. And we had no nightmares or ever feared being eaten by an imaginary beast.

This is one of my favorite books of all time and I can still remember most of the words. In fact, to this day (some 14 years later) there are times we'll quote to each other, "Please let me go. Judge, I didn't know, Judge that what I did was against the law, I just said what I saw..." This is a book I have read to countless children, including my niece and I plan on reading it to my own children. The cadence and rhyme of this story catches kid's attention and the moral is clear.

Don't be a wuss, keep it light and your kids will love the book and won't be terrified by the ending. Besides, the Judge gets what he deserves, does he not? Kids love that and they'll find it humorous, if you let them. There is really nothing grisly about the ending. Bear in mind that it's fire you see, not blood.

Again, this is one of my favorite books of all time and a must have for any quality children's library.

Rating:
Summary: Please let me go. Judge, I didn't know, Judge...
Review: Perhaps this book isn't suitable for young children, but I think it's wonderful. My mother read this book to my sister and me when we were young and we turned out just fine. Sure, our humors may be a little morbid, but not solely because of this book. And we had no nightmares or ever feared being eaten by an imaginary beast.

This is one of my favorite books of all time and I can still remember most of the words. In fact, to this day (some 14 years later) there are times we'll quote to each other, "Please let me go. Judge, I didn't know, Judge that what I did was against the law, I just said what I saw..." This is a book I have read to countless children, including my niece and I plan on reading it to my own children. The cadence and rhyme of this story catches kid's attention and the moral is clear.

Don't be a wuss, keep it light and your kids will love the book and won't be terrified by the ending. Besides, the Judge gets what he deserves, does he not? Kids love that and they'll find it humorous, if you let them. There is really nothing grisly about the ending. Bear in mind that it's fire you see, not blood.

Again, this is one of my favorite books of all time and a must have for any quality children's library.

Rating:
Summary: I grew up with this book
Review: This story was one of the ones I had my mother read to me over and over again when I was a girl. I loved it! So much so that it remained in my memory all these years (I'm 33 now) until I was compelled to buy a copy. Now that I've reread the book, I'm sincerely puzzled as to why I adored it so. I imagine that my younger self was responding to the poetic repetition; however, I'd like to think that I was a 4 year old rebel enjoying the antiestablishment theme. Who knows?

Rating:
Summary: I grew up with this book
Review: This story was one of the ones I had my mother read to me over and over again when I was a girl. I loved it! So much so that it remained in my memory all these years (I'm 33 now) until I was compelled to buy a copy. Now that I've reread the book, I'm sincerely puzzled as to why I adored it so. I imagine that my younger self was responding to the poetic repetition; however, I'd like to think that I was a 4 year old rebel enjoying the antiestablishment theme. Who knows?