Customer Reviews

No Kiss for Mother

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my absolute favorite Children's book! Growing up as a child, I would read this several times each summer and would laugh for hours at the expressions and the illustrations. The illustrations are brilliant. I think that deep down, we all share the desire to be as mischievous as Piper.

This is a delightfully naughty story (a favorite of my mine as a child) about a mischievous cat named Piper. What little boy doesn't want to play practical jokes in school, get dirty in the playground and take apart things at home that shouldn't be taken apart at home? Well, Piper does just that and has no room for kisses from Mother!

This book is rated from 4 to 8 years old. If you're an adult, read on. It's a hoot no matter how old you are.

My mother used to love to read this to me when I was a kid; we still have one of the earlier issues.

I'm glad it was re-released. It's a classic: recommended for adults as well as children.

This book was very cleverly written! My six year-old daughter and I laughed all the way through it. The pictures are hilarious. I would have enjoyed reading this book just for myself.

This little gem of a children's book addresses the sometimes difficult relationships between parents and children with a dark humor that is hard to ignore. I have owned my copy of this book for years, and it has enough complexity to provide new meaning each time I read it. I have always found Piper Paw's world somewhat grim--perhaps the smudgey, black and white illustrations have something to do with this. His relationship with his parents, teachers and schoolmates is so antagonistic that I begin to wonder what made him so incapable of love--this of course is a conclusion I have reached recently, and not when I first read the book as a pre-teen. But Piper comes around at the end, if not completely, at least to a level of compromise that he can live with, which includes no kissing. Because of Piper's antics and some of the more bizarre illustrations, I would recommend this book for kids 9 years and older.

No Kiss For Mother intrigues me to this day and my kids, a girl and boy, are well into their thirties and still marvel at this book. In some ways, this is a very violent book. MaMa Kitty actually slaps Piper, her beloved son. She has a terrible day and loses her temper and makes a bad mistake in her mothering--MaMa Kitty is flawed! MaMa Kitty, even though she adores the ever-misbehaving Piper, is not the perfect mother. This simply stunned my kids, especially my son. Piper "withholds" his kisses out of spite, Piper holds his mom hostage emotionally, Piper willfully deceives his father, Piper "acts out" in school--my kids' eyes were HUGE! Piper is a bad boy, but Piper is also a REAL boy, and he's a caring boy, too. My son so loved this book that if we went to the library and it was checked out, he was devastated! I have bought several copies of this book for my kids and their friends and nearly everyone I know who has grandchildren. It actually sort of gives kids "permission" to be their real, flawed selves and still be forgiven and loved. It's extremely honest and complex, as is life. It has value well into adulthood, in my view. LOVE IT!

Brilliant book for those who are able to see the humor in relationships. We had this book as children and it got lost over time. My brother mentioned he was looking for a copy so I found it for his birthday. Upon opening the present and seeing the book, my brother and I, laughed like we were kids again but not everyone sees the humor in Piper Paw. Those who are still pining over sour relationships find it painful. I find it hilarious...

M

The Publisher's Weekly description of this book at the beginning of this listing of paperback version of "No Kiss For MOther" is NOT for this book, it is not about a cat/dog offspring. It is all about a bad little boy cat named Piper with an overly affectionate mother who does not want to see him as the rough little guy that he is. One of my son's favorites when he was 3/4 years old. I bought a copy just to read to him again -- he's 22 years old now and still enjoyed it.

After adopting a kitten recently, I began to be haunted by a Tomi Ungerer book from my long distant past. I finally recalled - No Kiss For Mother - our little Grey Poupon looks exactly like Piper, LOL. Thank goodness he did not get his personality!

What a nice thing to have this book come back to my memory. I went through a period in my early 20's where I adored Tomi Ungerer. In my day, children's books featured families nothing like my own, and I think books like this were as good as a therapist once I discovered them. All Ungerer's books have the truth drawn into the corners, where a bedtime reading parent will note them, but they also have the basic child friendly story on the surface. I think children see what they need to see and are ready to see in them, which is so different from the vulgar fare they are often treated to now. No Kiss For Mother isn't pretty (hey, and there's not much kissing in it either!) but it is real, and the author/illustrator has a genius for making the real funny, even for those of us who are doomed to live it. On top of that, there is always the child version and the adult version of the same story, which are often very different in Ungerer's books as in real life.

I have this book but it's getting old since it's as old as I am and I grew up with this copy. I want to share with my son but I'd love a copy that I diidn't have to worry about so much.

Great book. Very odd, 70's influenced weirdness but great.