Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving [Hardcover]

William Steig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995

With wickedly funny pictures, William Steig shows just how peculiar the older generation sometimes seems to kids. Though grown-ups might cringe with embarrassment, every small wisecracker will relish these hilarious send-ups of adult failings and foibles.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A brilliantly simply idea-categorizing the social customs of the grown-up-provides a highly effective launching pad for Steig's (Zeke Pippin) sly visuals in this deliciously funny book. Adopting a child's point of view, Steig delivers a litany of baldly stated, hilariously on-the-mark observations: Grown-ups like hands to be clean, always want to be kissed, always have to know what time it is and have to measure everything (most notably, their own offspring). They exercise a lot, can't run (as evidenced by a picture of two determined, paunchy joggers), get tired easily (as when pulling four children on a sled), and love restaurants (imperiously ordering while the long-suffering child among them rolls her eyes heavenward). Handily playing pictures against text, Steig proves he has retained an inside track on childhood. All ages.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

K-Up?Grown-Ups is classic Steig: simple and exaggerated line drawings of people, highlighted with watercolors. A one-sentence observation of adult compulsions?in a "Pluggers" or "Love Is..." daily comics format?is accompanied by a child's view of a particular parental shortcoming. For example, "Grown-ups measure everything" depicts a father measuring his disgruntled son's height while a smiling, sitting mama observes; or, "Grown-ups get tired easily" as a father wearily pulls four kids on a sled. Really more a collection of New Yorker cartoons than a children's picture book, Grown-ups is a little rougher-edged than, say, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (S.&S., 1988) or Doctor De Soto (Farrar, 1982) and, too, doesn't have the continuity of Steig's earlier stories. The drawings should appeal to the old fogeys who are reading this to the young 'uns, and it may spark a touch of well-deserved embarrassment.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 42 pages
• Publisher: Di Capua; 1st edition (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006205080X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062050809
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,190,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Steig (1907-2003) published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, and received the Caldecott Medal for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (978-1416902065) in 1970. His works also include The Amazing Bone, a Caldecott Honor Book, and Abel's Island and Doctor De Soto, both Newbery Honor Books. His most recent books published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux are Shrek! (released by DreamWorks as a major motion picture) and Wizzil, illustrated by Quentin Blake. School Library Journal named Shrek! a Best Book of 1990 and said of it, "Steig's inimitable wit and artistic dash have never been sharper or more expertly blended."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious illustrations, albeit a cynical view, September 19, 2004

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving (Hardcover)

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this being a children's book that a child would read by themselves - makes adults look like old, tired fuddy-duddies that have zero fun. Obviously, we come off that way to young kids and this book reinforces all the negatives and there are really no positives. This is a fun book for story time with your child, however - to laugh with them and to ask them what their perceptions are, etc. In every illustration, the child is either bored, annoyed, angry or disgusted with the bafoon adults who get to control everything. As an adult, I got a kick out of this page-turner - reminds you of how you thought of the adults in your life when you were a child and how we all end up growing up to be just what we used to loathe - tired, grumpy, controlling know-it-alls without patience.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You've Got to Laugh at Yourself., February 9, 2003

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving (Hardcover)

Grown-ups take themeselves too seriously. It's nice when you discover a book like this which forces you to laugh at yourself and your friends as you see yourselves in the pictures. This book is written like a children's book and kids enjoy reading it (they find many of the pictures funny), but it's probably adults who will find the book most funny and enjoy it the most.

4.0 out of 5 stars Cartoon expressions of childhood "delusions", January 29, 2009

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grown-Ups Get to Do All the Driving (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Library Binding)

This collection of cartoons about the "privileges" of being a grown-up will strike a chord in the hearts and minds of all children. When you are a child, the grown-up world seems so simple and the "boss of you" seems to have so much power over the world. However, that is largely a false front as what the child sees as a privilege is in reality a responsibility and a burden.
For example, there are the cartoons with the captions "Grown-ups hate to pay taxes", "Grown-ups make you go to the dentist" and "Grown-ups like to punish people." While the child on the receiving end may not understand it, these are simply the burdens of being an adult and a parent. Therefore, the cartoons will also cause the eyebrows of adults to rise, as they will know the truth behind the childish "delusions."