Customer Reviews

The Hole Book (Peter Newell Children's Books)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My parents were given this book when they were children, read it to me when I was a child and now I read it to my children. Children thoroughly enjoy this book but it wasn't until I picked this book up and started to read this as an adult did I fully appreciate why Tom Pott's bullet suddenly stopped when it hit the new brides freshly baked cake. Read this book to your children and yourself, for all of you will enjoy this book tremendously.

Of all of the books that I read when I was a child, this is the only one that I truly never forget. I have captivated the attention of my friends and their children by reciting some of the best verses. The rhyme and meter is exquisite, providing an almost musical theme through each episode. The vocabulary is perfect for young people and fun for adults. It utilizes advanced words, while not burying their meaning from beginning readers. The characters lend themselves to creative new voices for each reader to explore. All of theses remarkable qualities, and it maintains a serious lesson for young people, that guns are not for fooling around.

I remember this 1908 book from my childhood. My copy originally belonged to my father (born in 1900), and would probably be a priceless collector's item now (along with those baseball cards from the 1940's), but it got lost some time in the last 60 years! So I enjoyed this book as a nostalgia trip, and the text and pictures were even cleverer than I remembered them. A couple of caveats... as other reviewers have pointed out, the registration of the hole isn't very good, which detracts from some of the pages. And the book isn't complete: without notice, at least one pair of pages that I remember (possibly more) has been censored, as a rather mild racial stereotype (which is why the book has the rather odd number of 56 pages).

Frankly ALL the Newell books, like The Slant Book, should be published in near-original format by some hyper-sharp publishing house. The original publisher took great care to be sure the book functioned perfectly as an object, the registration is flawless, which isn't the case here. This is brilliant stuff and yet more evidence that our ancient ancestors of about 100 years ago may have been a little sharper than us in a lot of ways.

For now this sloppy so-so edition will have to do, but in so many quality ways it really isn't even close to what was regular kid book standards back then (honestly, few kids books nowadays match what I'm finding from back then--illustration is getting just awful for starters). Five stars for Newell who was only a recent discovery and a happy one.

The idea of this book is good, but the hole punched in it doesn't line up with the obvious place there's a hole in the picture. Very annoying. Also the humor is full of stereotypes.

Did you know this book was a childhood favorite of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel? I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of it yet, but I think any book that inspired one of the masters of rhyming is worth reading!

I was going to order this but it appears the new version is nothing close to the original. I have the second copyright version dated 1936. It was given to me from my great grandmother in 1961 as a gift, with my name and date handwritten by her. I would be disappointed to order a new version based on previous descriptions. This book is a classic and to those that don't like the Black stereo type of "Mammy": You would best be searching for another children's book, avoid watching some of the "Little Rascals" Hal Roach 2-spool shorts, some of Shirley Temple's motion pictures and "Gone With The Wind."

This is a crummy reprint of a wonderful classic children's book. First of all, there is no hole in the book, which spoils the novelty. Second, the original colors are missing, as the pictures are all printed in black-and-white. Third, the pages are printed on the wrong sides, so the text you read on any given page doesn't correspond to the picture on the facing page! If you remember reading The Hole Book as a child, as I do, you will be tremendously disappointed by this reprint.

This is a fun book for kids to read and follow along with! For parents into the nostalgia of the simplicity of our childhood years, and even earlier, this book fits the bill. Nothing could be more basic, while still being so interesting and fulfilling. A book that kids and parents can both truly enjoy! Find a used copy in good condition, and enjoy!!!

Don't get this book for a child. It makes fun of black people and a wild animal gets killed.