Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Book Review: Oh Were They Ever Happy!

Oh, Were They Ever Happy!
Oh, Were They Ever Happy! by Peter Spier

I found this book listed in Young at Art and we love it! Peter Spier's lively illustrations show three children unexpectedly left home alone (because the babysitter never arrives) who decide to help their father by painting the house. They gather all the paint cans they can find and just start painting. Orange, green, yellow, red...roof, chimney and all!

First Son and First Daughter start saying, "Oh no!" in between giggles as the painting begins. You can imagine the situation increases in ridiculousness as the pages turn. My favorite picture shows how the children are cleaning up after themselves in the bathroom. Even Second Daughter will laugh and groan at the disastrous mess.

Kansas Dad's favorite pages show the faces of the neighbors as they survey the final result. We never see the parents. Of course, they were ever so happy! Sadly for us, this book appears to be out of print, but hopefully your local library has a copy.