Weekend Mischief

Children's Literature - Carrie Hane Hung

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 a 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. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

School Library Journal

Gr 2–5—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

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.)

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 the consequences of overindulging in greasy fairground fare. Or that your eyes might get stuck if you crossed them (and it's OK to laugh at the corny doubled-up typesetting joke). Or that listening to the ballgame on the radio on a summer night may be the apogee of something or other. Not all is sweet and pure: The haiku piece "Frost on a window / My fingers leave a message / For my brother-" is accompanied by an etching of the word "dumb" on the pane, and indeed Beech's Quentin Blake-esque pen-and-watercolor artwork adds an enjoyably scruffy surface to the poems. In addition to the standard couplets, the poet works in a number of forms, including some smooth internal rhyme schemes. "Fix a toy / It breaks again / Nurse a bruise / It aches again / Dry the dog / It shakes again / Clean some mud / It cakes again." Dogs and mud and bang-ups-sounds like the weekend. (Poetry. 6-9)