Customer Reviews

Mr. Strong

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

 

 

I love Mr. Strong's story because it shows the good and the bad of his special ability. Yes, he is VERY strong, and as a result, he took his door off the hinges, and unintentionally causes damage elsewhere.

However, his super-strength comes in handy, and he does some very impressive things to save a burning cornfield. His reward? Eggs! Perfect, since he eats so many eggs every day - most likely for the protein.

I always thought of this book as a story about doing the best with what you have. I loved them as a kid in the 70s, and I love reading them to my son even more.

Another favorite of ours is Mr. Bump (Mr. Men and Little Miss). Each book shows all the Mr. Mens on the back, so you can decide what you would like to look for next.

What a triumph it is, this Nietzschean parable of the Superman. Mr Strong's very being brims with the Will To Power, for which his physical strength is not a delicate metaphor. He hammers a nail into walls with his finger, he ties a knot in an iron bar.

Furthermore, he manifests this sheer force and charisma often quite despite himself. He tears a door off its hinges totally by accident, and barely notices as a bus is written off in collision with him. The symbolism of both of these events is important. The incident with the door makes explicit that it is the world around Mr Strong that must change - not he - however violent this birth of the new. It is equally significant that Mr Strong's own inattentiveness to road safety causes the crash - he cannot help but exist above the social rules that govern the majority, beyond Good and Evil.

This is not to say that Mr Strong ever uses his innate superiority to do wrong - he is every bit as good an egg as those which form his principal diet. One feels he would be just as horrified as Nietzsche himself was by the anti-Semitism of Wagner.

Whatever the case, destiny calls the Superman. And with a fire in a field he yanks a barn from its foundations (a clever metaphor for the dramatic social change brought about by iconoclasts such as he). He fills it with water, empties it upon the chaotic inferno, dousing its flames with his might. Without so much as a second thought, he seizes his moment in history.

Thus sprach Zarathustra.

Finally now in my mid-thirties I get to read Mr. Strong for the first time. What a beautiful little tale. If you're a Roger Hargreaves fan, you've read other Mr. Men titles and you're familiar with his writing style, I'm pretty sure you'll guess - just like I did - what kind of adversities Mr. Strong will face in his everyday life, given his extraordinary strength.

This was the first Mr. Men book I bought my son when I saw it at the store. And talk about bringing back memories, I read these when I was his age growing up in England. The copy is now bent and dog-eared from repeated readings. Mr. Strong is the strongest person in the whole world because Mr. Strong eats lots and lots of EGGS!!!! You have to appreciate the healthy dietary implications and my son now loves eggs.
I wish they would stop the books that endlessly push cake, cookies and all things sweet in some kid's books. TV, ok I get that, but can't we keep SOME things "pure"???

This is the story of Mr. Strong.

Mr. Strong is the strongestperson in the whole wide world. Mr. Strong gets his power from eating eggs and more eggs.

This is part of the Mr. Men series. There are many other Mr. Men books available. These are great books for kids. The Mr. books are just the right length to read two of them to kids at bedtime, and they all teach some important lesson.

Most of the Mr. Men books have other Mr. Men in them, but this book only has Mr. Strong, a farmer, and a couple people that he meets in the town.

Of the Mr. Men books that I have read, I would not recommend this one, it it not the best work by Roger Hargreaves. I would recommend Mr. Tall before buying this one. If you do buy a Mr. Men book, then you should get a couple because they are very small.