Customer Reviews

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue

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In my family, there is a sin for which there is no name. If someone asks you to state an opinion one way or another, whether you're asked if you'd like a slice of cake or how you would like your hamburger cooked, you give an answer. If you chose to say, "I don't care", however, you are to be subjected to unending torments. For two minutes. The classic Sendakian classic, "Pierre", understands the horrendous nature of this sin. Taking a sort of "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" type of extremist cure (in this case, getting eaten by a lion) the book examines Pierre's sin of noncommittalness and treats him accordingly.

Pierre is a well dressed lad. Sporting a jaunty blue suit and no shoes or socks whatsoever, he lives with his respectable mama and pop. In the first chapter, Pierre's mother attempts to elicit some sort of a decision from her son aside from, "I don't care!". Failing to do so, chapter two follows Pierre's father, who attempts the same thing. In chapter three a lion appears and the oblivious Pierre is eaten, after much dialogue with the aforementioned feline. By chapter four the parents have discovered the sickly lion (Pierre didn't go down so well, I suppose) and swiftly take the lion to the hospital. Happy ending, chapter five, the doctor merely shakes the lion and out pops Pierre. From then on, Pierre cares.

The book has much in common with the classic Little Red Riding Hood tale. Fortunately, rather than cutting Pierre out, the doctor (looking like nothing so much as a slightly modified Mr. Magoo) removes Pierre by upending the lion. The lion has seemingly learned his lesson as well, and serves as a mode of transportation for the transformed Pierre and his loving, well dressed parents. The story is small, simple, and easy to read. It's also one of the odder morals out there. But then again, maybe it's a lesson that we all should have learned long ago. It is better to care than to remain indifferent. A difficult thing to teach, but by no means impossible. In my opinion, one of Sendak's best books ever.

I am the school librarian in an elementary school in California. (a wonderful, if not well paying job) At the end of every school year, I SING this book to EVERY class for their last library visit...the children get to sing the I Don't CARE! parts. (Watch the video "Really Rosie" with lyrics and music by Carol King to learn the way it is sung) It is a JOY. The next year, all the kids want to know.."Can I check out Pierre?" Not to mention that it is a somewhat autobiographical account of Sendaks own childhood...He IS Pierre! You will love it!

Here's a way to get America's little couch spuds back into books. Get ones that can be sung as songs. And ones where the rotten little boy gets gobbled up by a lion (of course, he's okay in the end). "Pierre" is a great little tale with Sendak's usual great little drawings.

I always get choked up at the part where the mother tells her boy that he is "her only joy" and Pierre said, "I don't care."

Not too many children's authors could get away with a story in which a bad little boy is eaten up by a lion, but Sendak handles this potentially unsettling story line with a master's touch.

Children will love the repetition of "I don't care," which seems to be Pierre's response to everything, and the varied rhyme scheme keeps the text from becoming a monotonous set of couplets.

After his exasperated parents leave him home alone (the picture of them walking away from Pierre's perspective might actually be more of a threat to the listener than being eaten), a lion shows up at his house. The foolhardy Pierre is not impressed in the slightest, and won't be cowed from his trademark line when the lion asks him if he would like to be eaten. After Pierre's parents return home, they figure out what happened, assault the lion, and take him to the hospital, where a chastened Pierre is extracted uninjured.

Sendak is one of those authors whose work continues to shine more brightly than the hundreds of derivative picture books out there. Like Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl, there is a hint of wickedness to his work, but it's all in good fun.

This is a classic, pure and simple; a complete Sendak collection is a good idea for any child!

As a child of age 5, I memorized this book word-for-word, to the amazement of my parents and all who would listen to me recite it. I am now buying it for my 2-year old, who is already at the stage of repeating lines from songs and books. Looking forward to another generation of "I don't care!" floating through the house!

When my daughter was young she fell in love with "Pierre". Night after night "Pierre" was her favorite bed time story. This Christmas I asked what book to get her son. Fondly she said, "I don't care".

as an early education specialist, this is a wonderful treat to read and reread with children ages 2-7....the author and illustrator have the same effect of charm and warmth as they did when I was a child..makes a wonderful gift bringing lots of warm laughter to your home ...checkout his other books as well...
simply marvelous!

This book is a very good introduction to novels. Told in chapter form, the young reader can really develop an understanding of how stories are presented with self-contained sections. Even though it is a children's book designed for the beginning reader, the theme of the importance of caring can be related to the lives of all.

Mr. Sendak's use of verse adds to the lyrical quality of the selection. Children will really like the choice of words and they may relate to Pierre, who reminds me of how children sometimes reject authority as a means of asserting their independence.

By having the lion enter the story adds an element of fantasy that is another attribute of the story. The moral at the end provides the child with a glimpse of another literary element that will be encountered by children during their more advanced studies of literature.

I had never heard of "Pierre" by Maurice Sendak until Friday when I saw it "performed" by a storyteller at my school's 60th anniversary. "Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue" is a fabulous storyteller's tale!

Pierre is a stubborn little boy set in ennui with only one line that comes out of his mouth: "I don't care." How many times do children feel it necessary to respons with "I don't care." How many times did we say "I don't care" when we were children? Sendak takes this prevailing and re-occurring mood and makes a surprisingly strong story out of it.

"I don't care." How many times did our storyteller (a retired library science professor from our local university) repeat that line in echoing little Pierre's nauseous abundance of them? But not once did the word become tiresome! Each time she said, "I don't care," with arms folded or pouting lips or haughty demeanor, the line sounded fresh as if each were the first. I'm sure the words on the page read the same way.

So, little Pierre doesn't care what he has for breakfast, nor if he goes to school, nor if his parents leave him at home. They do then, leave him at home. A lion comes and sees a tasty morsel to consume for breakfast, but Pierre doesn't care. Even when he's in the lion's tummy, he still doesn't care.

When Mommy and Daddy return, they do care and shake Pierre right out of that ol' lion. You can guess, of course, that now Pierre cares.

Didactic, no. Cautionary, yes. This is a good little story on paper or off.

I have the casette tape of this story (a MUST, because the entire story is sung and it's so very wonderful) and every year I put on the casette and sing the story to my class. I have yet to find a group that does not enjoy this story and beg repeatedly for me to play it again. In the beginning, a few students will pick up on the refrain "I don't care" as well as the timing and by the time we've played it for a week or so, most of the students sing along, giggling all the way. The message is clear, you must find something to care about otherwise you're doomed to live inside a lion. And after much discussion, my students (kindergarten) get that fact.