Just Being Me #3: I LOVE Messes! [Hardcover]

Robie Harris (Author), Nicole Hollander (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up | Series: Just Being Me

In this humorous, accessible new series, parents and children work together to cope with the normal, healthy feelings and challenges that they experience everyday.

When a little girl draws red dots or her face and circles with her thumbs in her raspberry yogurt, her daddy warns her that that she's making a mess. The little girl doesn't care, though, because she loves messes, especially giant, mixed-up, mushy messes! But when her eager exploration goes too far and exasperates her daddy, she comes to understand that not every mess is okay. Daddy also learns to accept his daughter's playful curiosity. With honesty, warmth, and good humor, I LOVE Messes! offers a child's-eye view of a family making its way through--and celebrating--every child's daily ups and downs, need for love and affection, and determined push for independence.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K–In Messes, a girl enjoys dumping food items from the fridge and mixing them up on the floor. In Dressed, a boy insists on dressing himself but puts his clothes on upside down or on the wrong body parts. In both cases, the parents patiently and lovingly explain what is tolerable behavior and what is going too far. Both children happily accept these boundaries. The pen-and-ink cartoons are simple and bright. The texts and art are playful and cheerful, and the layouts are clear. The books are best suited for families dealing with similar problems. In each one, a professor of child psychiatry describes the characters' actions in the story and explains why children need to pursue them. Some parents and caregivers will find these trite and patronizing; others will find them reassuring.–Amelia Jenkins, Juneau Public Library, AK
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS. This small, brightly illustrated book in the Just Being Me series, by the author of the classic It's Perfectly Normal (1994) and the Growing Up Stories series on child development, portrays a behavioral flashpoint from a child's first-person perspective. A note addressed to parents explains how the fictional scenario reflects an important developmental stage and discusses how parents might balance "enjoyment of their child's individuality . . . with the necessities of daily life." In the story a child exercises her creativity by making food into a "cold, wet, slippery, mushy, mess," then helps her exasperated but understanding father clean up. Although some adults may fear the willful, experimental acts depicted will be understood by children as carte blanche to act out, many others will appreciate the clear voice of reason ringing through the stories'humor and chaos--while children will simply exult in the silly fun modeled on the pages. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 28 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (November 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316109460
• ISBN-13: 978-0316109468
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,603,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Funny Book About Messes!, November 28, 2005

By 

Shirley Priscilla Johnson "Author/Reviewer -... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Just Being Me #3: I LOVE Messes! (Hardcover)

In this little read we find a little girl who loves to make a mess and she does a good job in this story. She draws red dots on her face and invades the refrigerator where the real fun begins as she makes circles with raspberry yogurt. Soon both the little girl, her dog and the kitchen is anything but clean.
Daddy is not pleased, but we find in this story that he understands his daughters desire to learn through making a mess. Gently he talks to her and explains messes are okay to a degree and if we make a mess, we must also clean it up.
Very colorful, cute illustrations that definitely add to the story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real mess, September 9, 2001

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Messy Jessie (Hardcover)

The fabulous illustrations in this darling book delight small children, who have a way of making a mess of themselves, literally.

Jessie loves messes. She's into crayons that color the edges of her paper and keep going--onto the table--and big red dots on her face and hands. She can't contain her yogurt in a cup; it spills.

Her dad says, "How about a carrot, my Messy Jessie? A carrot's not messy." When he runs to answer the door, he comes back to find that she has dropped an egg on the floor, dumped out the milk, catsup and mustard, stepped in them, and is dancing about singing "Messy Jessie!"

The cat and dog lap up the mess, making footprints and pawprints all over the floor.

"This isn't funny," says a dad losing patience.

She takes a bath and goes to bed. "I love you my Messy Jessie," says her dad.

But she even dreams of messes. The message is real for children of a certain age.

And of course, it's the dad who takes care of the messes. Alyssa A. Lappen

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read!, January 11, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Being Me #3: I LOVE Messes! (Hardcover)

Most children love making messes. It's an adventure in exploring the depths and reaches of creativity. Some messes are little ones but the messes in I Love Messes! by Robie Harris grow bigger with each page turned.

Red magic marker on tables and faces is one thing, but drawing on the table with yogurt, smashing an egg on the floor along with milk, catsup and mustard and dancing in it is another.

Daddy is not happy about the messes and explains appropriate behavior to his daughter. And then father and daughter clean up the mess together. And when sleep overcomes the girl who likes messes, guess what she dreams about!

I liked I Love Messes! because it is from the viewpoint of the child. And I appreciated the involved father who listened, explained and understood. The illustrations are colorful, lively and inviting. Children will love this book.

Armchair Interviews says: A fun read, but following the read, further explanation with your child about making messes might be a good idea! It might save you from a really big surprise.