At the Hotel Larry [Paperback]

Daniel Manus Pinkwater (Author), Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004 | Age Level: 4 and up

Larry the polar bear loves living at the Hotel Larry. He gets to spend time with his friends, and he has a great job as a lifeguard (although very few guests use the pool!). On his days off, Larry puts on his human disguise and goes out for blueberry pancakes with his best friend, Mildred. One day, after stuffing themselves with pancakes, Larry and Mildred decide to go to the zoo. And who should they find in the polar bear pen but Larry’s brother, Roy! Of course, Larry invites Roy and his two friends, Bear Number One and Bear Number Three, to come to dinner. But how do you entertain four wild polar bears?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3. The eccentric brilliance of the Pinkwaters shines brightly in this pair of books featuring Larry the polar bear. Young Larry and his brother Roy are a couple of regular cubs, with an absent father of whom they are nonetheless proud ("He found a dead whale one time, and ate the whole thing himself") and a typical polar bear mother ("One day, I will give you a hit in the head myself...and send you off to take care of yourselves"). When that day finally comes, Larry discovers that being a grown-up bear is downright boring. He curls up on the ice for a nap in Baffin Bay and wakes up in Bayonne, New Jersey. His taste for muffins leads him to a job as a lifeguard, and his rescue of a Mr. Martin Frobisher leads him to the sequel, At the Hotel Larry. There he resumes his lifeguarding career and is reunited with Roy during a visit to the zoo. Pinkwater's deadpan delivery deftly mixes these outrageous events with wry observations ("I am a wild polar bear myself....There is no other kind"), while remaining true to the animals' nature and raising this droll humor to hilarity. Pen-and-ink and marker illustrations in vivid tones extend Larry's character through expression, posture, and pose. Details such as the claw-based furniture of the Hotel Larry add visual dimension to the humor. At once both simple and sophisticated, these books have a fabulously quirky, memorable character whose exploits bear repeated readings.?Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Pinkwater is only mildly outrageous here, which for anyone else would still be pretty daffy. The books' jolly good humor...is matched by Jill Pinkwater's appealing artwork, which is at its best when Larry is disguised and out on the town, badly overdressed. The preschool set will laugh, but primary-graders may laugh even harder." -- Booklist, September 1997

"The Pinkwaters combine facts and hilarious fancy, enriched by the author's knack for turning a phrase." -- Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1997

Larry is a character all children will fall in love with." -- Children's Book Review Service, Inc., December 1997

Starred Review "The eccentric brilliance of the Pinkwaters shines brightly." -- School Library Journal, October 1997 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761451781
• ISBN-13: 978-0761451785
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 8.5 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #949,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River Valley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and great to read aloud, September 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: At the Hotel Larry (Library Binding)

The narrator of this story is a girl who lives in a hotel with her father and mother. Larry, a polar bear, once saved her father's life, and as a reward, Larry wanted to live in a hotel with a swimming pool. So her father bought an old hotel, and Larry is the lifeguard. Every now and again, the girl disguises Larry in a very large coat, hat, and sunglasses, and they go to the Pancake Palace to eat blueberry pancakes. One day they go to the zoo, and I won't spoil the story by telling any more! The humor is wacky and sophisticated but will appeal to all ages.The style is simple and the book is fun to read because Larry is so clever and droll. I have read this book aloud countless of times to my 3-year-old. Larry has really captured the imagination of my son. Highly recommended for its humor and great illustrations.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Band of Bearthren, June 23, 2004

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At the Hotel Larry (Paperback)

Daniel and Jill Pinkwater have another winner in this book from the enormously funny "Larry" series. Larry is a huge but friendly polar bear who lives in a hotel and hangs out in the icy cold pool. This is a jokey-book, but even when the humor is predictable, the Pinkwaters' dry as ice delivery is irresistible: "NOTICE TO GUESTS: MAKE SURE THE BEAR LIKES YOU BEFORE USING THE POOL."

"...Guests ask [my mother] `How can we tell if the bear likes us?'
"...oh, the bear likes everybody."
Very few guests use the pool.

Later the narrator (a young teenage girl) takes a mildly disguised Larry out for blueberries: "people think he is just a big fat man with whiskers, wearing a pair of slippers that look like fuzzy bear paws." Then the rim-shot:

"If anyone were to ask I would say that Larry is my uncle from Milwaukee."

The one potentially tricky part of the book occurs when Larry takes his first trip to the zoo and sees his brother Roy. But the zoo is a fun place for them to meet and swim together and fool a few visitors as well. The zookeeper even lets Roy and his two pool mates out for the night, and they have codfish cakes and blueberries at the hotel Larry. Although I paused for a bit, the gentle good-natured tone drowns out any dissonance regarding free and captive polar bears: It's a kids' book, and the Pinkwaters' combination of deft prose, and bold, colorful pictures set a happy tone of fantasy and bearish camaraderie. Also check out Larry in "Bongo Larry," in which he eats (what else?) blueberries and plays the blues at a local club. Good fun, and definitely recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pinkwater, hilarious as always, September 26, 2000

By 

W. K. Miller "kenmiller32" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At the Hotel Larry (Library Binding)

At the Hotel Larry is just hilarious. Larry is a polar bear who has drifted from the polar regions to New Jersey. Pinkwater's trademark humor is in full effect. A great picture book for ages 3-103 !