Who Needs Donuts? [Hardcover]

Mark Alan Stamaty (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 23, 2003 | Age Range: 3 - 7 years

Sam’s love of donuts takes him to the Big City where he makes friends with Mr. Bikferd, a world class collector of donuts. But when Mr. Bikferd falls in love with Pretzel Annie, the prophecy of an old homeless woman comes true: “Who needs donuts when you’ve got love?” Mr. Bikferd bequeaths his donut collection to Sam, who uses it to save the old homeless woman from drowning in a basement flooded with coffee.

This is a reissue of Mark Alan Stamaty’s masterpiece of the absurd, first published 30 years ago and out of print nearly as long. With an illustration style that mixes a benign Hieronymus Bosch with an urban Where’s Waldo?, Stamaty’s off-the-wall humor is on target for little kids and big kids today.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Originally published in 1973, Who Needs Donuts is a sweet visual feast that will have kids (and nostalgic parents) poring over its rich tableaus for hours. Every inch of each black-and-white page is covered in detailed, delightful drawings, at times bringing to mind the two-dimensional cartoons of Saul Steinberg, at others the scratchy realism of Lynda Barry’s comics. In fact, there is so much to look at in this short, simple story that new discoveries are sure to be made with each successive reading (of which there are bound to be countless).

Young Sam, clad (inexplicably, yet charmingly) in cowboy duds, already has a nice house with a big yard and lots of friends, but he feels nonetheless that something is missing. He mounts his trusty trike and heads for the big city in search of one thing: donuts, and not just a few, but "More than his mother and father could ever buy him."

His quest is rife with humor and adventure, not to mention a man in paisley suit and a woman named Pretzel Annie. Kids will adore the no-holds-barred kookiness displayed throughout (a street vendor selling fried oranges with optional mayonnaise; a "self-service" restaurant where the waiters look exactly like the customers), and adults will smile at the hippie-era moral that love is all you need. As the flap illustration warns, "This book is addictive," but this sugar habit need not be kicked. (Ages 5 to 10) --Brangien Davis

From the Inside Flap

Sam?s love of donuts takes him to the Big City where he makes friends with Mr. Bikferd, a world class collector of donuts. But when Mr. Bikferd falls in love with Pretzel Annie, the prophecy of an old homeless woman comes true: ?Who needs donuts when you?ve got love?? Mr. Bikferd bequeaths his donut collection to Sam, who uses it to save the old homeless woman from drowning in a basement flooded with coffee.

This is a reissue of Mark Alan Stamaty?s masterpiece of the absurd, first published 30 years ago and out of print nearly as long. With an illustration style that mixes a benign Hieronymus Bosch with an urban Where?s Waldo?, Stamaty?s off-the-wall humor is on target for little kids and big kids today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; Reissue edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375825509
• ISBN-13: 978-0375825507
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 0.5 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest children's books of all time! November 24, 1997

By [e-mail]

Format:Hardcover

With any justice, Stamaty would be a household name with Sendak and Scarry in children's publishing. This book had a major effect on me as a child. Luckily for me, my school library had one tattered, well-read copy. I thought that I had the only remaining copy which I obtained a few years ago after a nationwide search. I even called Mr. Stamaty and he said he didn't have a copy (but maybe his mother did - he'd check.). Unbelievably detailed (after hundreds of readings I STILL find new things) and twistedly funny pen-and-ink drawings, bizarre characters, a profound moral message, and doughnuts, doughnuts, doughnuts! I'm writing this with the hope that one day it will be re-released so that more people could enjoy this book and appreciate Mr. Stamaty's obsessive genius. I still cannot understand why this book was a financial flop and so overlooked by critics when it was released (too weird?). Perhaps its time has come.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece!!! September 19, 2003

By Alan Greenspan

Format:Hardcover

I started reading "Who Needs Donuts" in 1974, and have been making steady progress on it ever since. Someday, I hope to finish it. But that is unlikely, for this poignant story is filled with such intricate humorous detail, it is almost impossible to tell if you've completed it! This is a timeless masterpiece for readers of all ages, that until the reissue was available only to the lucky few who managed to get a copy in the 70s. Now that its back, everyone can and should know "Who Needs Donuts".

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Needs Donuts? WE DO!!! September 22, 1999

By Dave & Lisa ([e-mail])

Format:Hardcover

The book is wonderfully detailed and crazy! It will keep you entertained for hours. We would love to find a copy of it if we could. We haven't seen it since college. Every time you look at it, you find something new!