Customer Reviews

Barnaby and Mr. O'Mally

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered this book by accident used in a vintage store. It's one of the best written and most entertaining comic strip style books I've ever seen. It has the whimsy of a Calvin and Hobbes, revolving around youthful imagination, the blurring of fantasy and reality, but there is a maturity and sophistication to it that adults will appreciate -- a comic strip with a reference to John Maynard Keynes?

I came to Amazon hoping to find more of these books but I see that even this one book is underappreciated. I suspect this is a problem of target audience. It's a bit sophisticated for the younger crowd, and yet adults might shy away from a book with a child protagonist. That leaves the obvious target audience of giants, fairy godfathers, and invisible leprechauns belonging to the Elves, Leprechauns, Gnomes, and Little Men's Chowder and Marching Society (ELG&LMC&M). And unfortunately as our radio commentator tells us, "economy is the watchword today" and so it seems that even the leprechauns with chests full of cash may be tightening their belts.

This is unfortunate. The book is a very entertaining leisure read that is on the one hand relaxing and healthy for the imagination and on the other, sprinkled with enough sophisticated nuance to avoid the trap of dopeyness. And if anything, the cultural references to food rationing or the slide rule or political bosses make for a charming and palatable way to see a snapshot of American history circa World War II. Where else are you going to read, "Quiet Barnaby...Your Fairy Godfather must concentrate a minute or two to perfect a plan for the post-war world." My only regret is that it's not easier to find more volumes of Barnaby and his captivating escapades. Cushlamachree!

I learned to read with Barnaby and Mr O'Mally over 60 years ago - when the book and I and Barnaby were all nearly new. It was a fascinating fantasy in the real world setting of a little boy at home with his dog and his parents - and the random presence of the boy's fairy godfather, a short, stout little man in overcoat and a fedora with a half smoked cigar and tiny little fairy wings! I still chuckle at the recollection of O'Mally's membership in the Little Men's Chowder and Marching Society - the talking dog - the ineffectual cigar/wand - the concerned parents and the benign ghost - it was a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it for both parents and children.

Crockett Johnson's Barnaby is one of the greatest things ever published, by far the greatest graphic novel of all time (at least 30 years before anybody else was doing them). This sequel is much inferior. Johnson has one joke that he seems to find worth hammering home in a thousand different ways in this book. If you absolutely loved Barnaby this book will provide you with some lovable moments, but only dyed-in-the-wool Barnaby fanatics should bother with this book.