Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection [Paperback]

Richard Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2009 | Series: Cul de Sac Collection

Richard Thompson reminds us that being a 40-year-old isn't hard, but being a four-year-old is. His warm, welcoming reminders are wonderfully lighthearted and funny as he brings home Alice's life in a fun, new Cul de Sac collection.

Alice and her Blisshaven Preschool classmates charm fans of all ages. Their adventures ring alarmingly true to parents of little ones, too. From doing projects in a whirlwind of crayons and markers to their nonstop chatter to trying to comprehend a completely incomprehensible world, Thompson's characters make Children at Play a must-read. The little boxes crammed together, the shopping malls, and the insane traffic systems set the scene for the storylines and adventures that only suburban life can provide.

Thompson's witty dialogue meets comically unique drawings to make Cul de Sac a place worthy of visiting on a daily basis.

"I thought the best newspaper comic strips were long gone, and I've never been happier to be wrong. Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac has it all--intelligence, gentle humor, a delightful way with words, and, most surprising of all, wonderful, wonderful drawings." --Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up—The daily-newspaper comic Cul de Sac focuses on petulant, imaginative kindergartner Alice; her meticulous, neurotic older brother, Petey; and their interactions with neighborhood kids, their parents, and teachers. As Mo Willems says in the introduction to this second collection, it's easy to think that there's little new ground to cover when presenting precocious children in comics, as hyper-verbal musings on the unfairness of childhood has been well-established in both Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes. Thompson is able to achieve the best of all worlds here, with visual gags, wordplay, incisive commentary, wry observation, and an acutely clever re-creation of the surreal circumstances, behaviors, and mentalities of youth. The scratchy, scribbly artwork helps reinforce the childlike environment, but young readers may not be far enough away from these events to recognize them as truly, deliriously funny.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About the Author

Richard Thompson's illustrations have appeared in U.S. News and World Report, the New Yorker, National Geographic, and the Atlantic Monthly. He has received numerous illustration awards, including the National Cartoonists Society's Magazine and Book Illustration Award, and he is also the creator of Richard's Poor Almanac. He resides with his family in Arlington, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (October 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740789872
• ISBN-13: 978-0740789878
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cul de Sac blazes bright, February 14, 2010

By 

Toadstool Recordings "Toadstool Recordings" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection (Paperback)

If you are not familiar with this daily newspaper comic strip, then you are in for a treat. This is brilliant stuff - the drawings are superb, surpassed only by the writing. The characters are familiar, and yet fresh and happily new. Not since Calvin & Hobbes has the familiar world of childhood been so happily, and messily, turned on its head to reveal so many of its treasures and pitfalls. Stop reading this review and just buy the book already!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming, wry newspaper daily comic strip, December 20, 2009

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection (Paperback)

(What's this?)

"Children At Play: A Cul De Sac Collection"
by Richard Thompson
(Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009)
-------------------------------------------------------------
I had never heard of the "Cul De Sac" newspaper strip before, but this collection has completely won me over. The strip is sort of like "Calvin And Hobbes" with an ensemble cast; there's a shared celebration of the twisted, mordant sense of humor that kids can have (and that adults often find so surprising) and a familiar imaginative twisting of reality. The main characters are young, preschool-age, not-too-naughty Alice and her older brother Petey, an agoraphobic fraidy-cat who nonetheless has a pretty good sense of humor. Their parents are likable: Mom always tries to put a positive spin on things, while Dad (much like Calvin's dad) is more laconic and low-energy -- a hard day at work makes him just a little bit too grumpy to follow all of Alice's flights of fancy.

Much of the action takes place at Alice's nursery school, where a handful of oddball kids cluster together and try and figure out the world; there's also a lot of talking at the family dinner table and Alice coming into Petey's room to try and pry him away from his ever-present comic books. The humor is hard to describe; really you just have to read it. But parents who like to laugh at their own foibles as well as those of their kids, or fans of "Calvin And Hobbes", will find a lot to laugh about here. Definitely recommended -- I wish there was another volume out that I could read as well! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain kid's lit reviews)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surreal combo of Far Side and early Peanuts, November 9, 2009

By 

Jessica Weissman "poet and computer programmer" (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection (Paperback)

(What's this?)

We Washington Post readers are lucky enough to see Cul de Sac daily and get a bonus weekly satirical cartoon from Richard Thompson, so the excellence of this collection was no surprise to me.

Richard Thompson combines a surreal view of the world with a sense of humor on the order of Far Side AND a set of believable child characters. If you can deal with Stewie on Family Guy being far more articulate than a baby should be, you can deal with the vocabulary and insights of these kids, who are much funnier and less nasty. Petey Otterloop (last name a DC joke)is an all-purpose neurotic kid, while his sister Alice is a much more typical child, albeit an articulate genius child. Their parents are funny too, not clueless - AND we get to see their heads, unlike in Peanuts.

Thompson is funny and insightful and uses perspective and line weight in amazing ways. Great text, great characters, amazing drawing, and good insight - what more do you want? Possibly the sweetness of Calvin and Hobbes, which most emphatically is not here. But Thompson isn't mean, either.