Customer Reviews

Rotten Ralph

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

 

 

Ralph is a very bad kitty, as is generally what cats thrive on being. He is often rude, knocks things over, disrupts social occasions, makes sport of preying on pet birds, fish or rodents, and purposely exacerbates the one annoying, albeit universally inherent, trait in dogs: obnoxiousness. After one especially horrid, feline-induced fiasco at the circus, Sarah's father determines that he's had enough of Ralph and gives him the boot. Ralph's consequential homeless journey thus necessitates him a good look inwardly, seeking the key to whatever could possibly save him from being lost forever to his comfortable home and family...

Not so very many years ago, I had the very great pleasure of reading over and over and over, and over immeasurable, this fine tale of haphazardness, naughtiness, chastisement, and redemption. So I'll now tell you a little tale of my own - a personal pathway, of sorts, toward eminent endearment of this sweet little book:

Several years ago, a little child went with her mother and father to a book signing in downtown Chicago. The name of the book escapes me now, but alas, it's irrelevant to this story. John Lydon ("Johnny Rotten" of Sex Pistols fame) was doing the signing for some newly published writing affair at a trendy north side bookstore. As Mr. Rotten has always had a great dedicated following, the line for this book, to be graced with his signature, was immensely long. The little girl, wearing a pink winter coat and purple ribbons in her hair, was the only child present in a snaking line omnipresent in the aisles throughout with multiply tattooed and body-pierced fans. Yet she was neither intimidated nor gainsaid as she quietly recited her favorite nursery rhymes, picking up to browse each prettily covered book she saw. She was ever patient, and even after over an hour of waiting would smile sweetly to strangers' questions and comments as she held onto her mother's hand.

Finally, after what seemed like an infinitesimal wait, she and her parents reached the front portion of the line. Then, all hearts fell as the gentleman just ahead of her family, a tall thin young man with long silky black & blue-streaked hair and an earring was told the featured book had just sold out - that there were absolutely no more copies. Dejected and deflated, all those remaining in the line began to take their leave.

This little girl, however, would have nothing of it. "But we came here for a book!" she cried loud enough for anyone in the store to hear, "I want that book!" Before either of her parents could chastise her for this outburst, Mr. Rotten spoke up with that beautifully enunciated British accent he has, and said, "You want a book? I'm sorry...uh, but we...Wait - This child wants a book! - Oh yes, never fear, little one; I will get you a book." A consummate gentleman, he merely snapped his fingers to one of his assistants and pointed to a nearby display at the edge of the children's section, and said, "I want to give her that book."

ROTTEN RALPH was the chosen book's title. My daughter's copy is signed by Johnny Rotten, the inside jacket adorned with a Polaroid photo taken of herself, her new book, and the kindest punk rock star on earth. Truly, upon many a night for perhaps the next two years that followed, ROTTEN RALPH was included in our nightly ritual of bedtime stories. And though our cat George was often annoyed that he was forced to sit, listen and learn, neither my girl nor I ever tired of reading it.

Of all the books that I read to my son when he was young, "Rotten Ralph" was one of my--and his--favorites. The artwork is incredible--very kinetic and colorful, a combination of Keith Haring and Outsider Art. The story is written with great wit, and one can sympahize with the poor heroine trying to get her unruly cat to behave--kind of like she's the parent and Ralph's the child. Yeah, Ralph's behavior is really rotten, but Sarah loves him anyway. Sound familiar? Like Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," "Rotten Ralph" project a child's fears to an imaginary realm where they can be dealt with safely. It's a great piece of children's literature.

Rotten Ralph is Sarah's bad, bad cat, and she loves him. Her parents tolerate him...until the unforgivable. Ralph ends up on his own, cold, lonely and miserable, and regretting his evil ways. Most of the time.

Extreme, crazy, and a little more than rotten sometimes. The drawings aren't traditional, which makes "Rotten Ralph" even more fun for kids to read and look at.

My 2-year-old can't get enough of this book! The illustrations are creative, unique and keep his attention. Rotten Ralph is a lovable character even with his mischievous ways. This book reinforces to children that even if they misbehave and have to go to time-out, they are still loved and important. We've enjoyed all the other Rotten Ralph titles as well.

This book is hilarious. The bathos of Ralph's predicament is devastatingly funny. He deserves everything he gets. During one scene, the author slips in a perhaps unconscious homage to the famous nose episode of the Brady Bunch, when the owner of a dog is heard to exclaim "my dog!"

There are certain unchangeable constants in this world. The tides. The phases of the moon. And the love children will always have for naughty, bad, not-so-very-nice behavior. It is this love that has made "The Cat In the Hat" a picture book classic, and that has raised David Shannon's, "No, David!" from obscurity to beloved bedtime must. And though "Rotten Ralph" is not original in terms of bad-pet-wreaks-havoc (the best version of which, by the way, is Joan Aiken's, "Arabel's Raven"), it is certainly one of the more original and visually stimulating of its kind. There will always be certain fuddy duddy parents out there that dislike "Rotten Ralph" on the basis of its content (i.e. naughtiness to them=evil incarnate). But there will also always be parents who recognize why children love Ralph's wicked ways, and shall purchase accordingly.

Ralph is a cat that, as his owner Sarah puts it is, "sometimes ... very hard to love". He delights in tormenting those around him. When Sarah practices ballet, Ralph makes fun of her. When she has a tea party, he takes precisely one bite out of each cookie. When she's swinging (and I'm not entirely certain that the term "rotten" quite covers this one) he saws off the branches of the tree she hangs from. All this comes to a head when the family, with Ralph in tow, goes to the circus. Ralph engages in out-and-out highly despicable behavior, causing Sarah's father to insist that the fam abandon Ralph to the circus itself. By doing so, Ralph learns humility and how to fend for himself. And when at last he is reunited with the ever-caring Sarah, he tries not to be so very rotten after all. "Except for sometimes when Mother cooked lobster for dinner".

Author Jack Gantos originally wrote this tale in 1976, and it allowed him to jump start his lucrative career as a children's author. Since that time he has gone on to write the incredibly well-written "Joey Pigza" series (if you haven't you MUST run out and read "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" at once!) as well as the fabulous young adult autobiography, "Hole In My Life". And it all started with one malicious and very naughty kitty. Ralph's actions are, of course, despicable. In fact, they're often so ludicrously terrible that they strike great guffaws of laughter from the audience. Of course, the story feels like exactly what it is. A writer's first picture book. It's a fine little piece but it doesn't have the ease and sophistication of the later "Ralph" books. In fact, most parents probably wouldn't have even noticed its existence if Mr. Gantos hadn't been paired with illustrator Nichole Rubel. Ms. Rubel has worked on other children's books, it's true. But when she has reached the end of her too brief life and joined the choir invisible, one cannot help but think that what Ms. Rubel will be most remembered for will be her participation in the "Rotten Ralph" series. After all, she imbues him with such life, verve, and wanton (not to say gleeful) destruction that long after reading the story, the image of him is burned deeply into one's brain. Now, the book does suffer from containing zippo people of color (unless you count the questionable fellow on a camel, midway through the tale) so don't expect much in the way of multiculturalism here. Then again, this is a problem through the entire series, so I shouldn't have been too surprised. And the pictures do sometimes strike you as slightly modified William Steigs (later Steig, of course) in their wavy nightmarish way. So if you've a child who fears the wiggly, avoid this book at all costs.

Otherwise, it's a perfectly good story about a perfectly awful pet. Unlike some of the other "Ralph" books, the cat in this tale faces a mighty good comeuppance for his crimes. Kids will enjoy his foibles just as much as they clamor to read about some of his other adventures. A fun and deeply disturbing tale.

I've never left an Amazon review but I wanted to share our love for the Rotten Ralph series. My three year old son enjoys these books as much as I enjoy reading them. Ralph can be rotten but Sarah loves him just the same. Nothing punitive here. Just funny and smart kid's books that are a pure delight.

I am so glad that I was able to read a copy of this at the library before purchasing it for my daughters because I certainly will not be buying it. I am quite surprised that people like this one at all. The story is disturbing! Ralph is not a lovable cat/character at all, not even at the end. Part of that too comes from the way he is drawn. He looks wicked, absolutely evil really. The illustrations in this book are TERRIBLE, which was reason enough really for me to dismiss the book based on that alone. Sometimes a great story redeems bad artwork, but certainly not here.

Ralph is a sadistic character. And so how does his family deal with his sadistic behavior? Well, the family desserts him at the circus and thereafter Ralph is actually treated terribly, and even tortured by others. Nice. If there is supposed to be any moral value of unconditional love in this story as others have stated, I must counter that with the story's message that if you are bad, your family will just LEAVE YOU somewhere and sneak off to get rid of you, leaving you to face the horrible, cruel world alone. That promotes insecurity and uncertainty, not unconditional love.

Another tone that I found disturbing is that Ralph is not just rotten, he's downright abusive! He intentionally makes Sarah miserable and tries to physically hurt her, yet in the end she takes him back in. I've known a few women with abusive husbands/boyfriends just like Ralph. Not sure how comfortable I am telling any child at any age that you should keep giving an abusive person a million chances or that you should take them back in just because you love them... And hey, let me just throw in another point of consideration, since children apply concepts in literal ways as well, whose to say some child with a naughty pet wouldn't just open the front door and let them go hoping they come back "reformed". Worked for Ralph, right?... This just wasn't the feel-good book that I was expecting it would be based on the other reviews. It coveys so many distressing messages to children... Please pass me a Curious George book. Now that's a naughty little monkey with a GOOD HEART!

My children won this book at a Bingo For Books event at their school. When I began to read it to them, I was shocked at the content. To sum it up: a little girl's cat makes fun of her , saws off the branch that holds her tree swing while she was swinging, smashes a bike into the dining room table when they were eating dinner, ate the mothers favorite birds, and ruined the circus show. The father got so angry that he abandoned the cat at the circus. The illustration shows the little girl crying as they left the circus. Ralph refused to work at the circus, so they locked him up in a cage. All the animals threw things at him and squirted him with water, and he was starved because he was only fed stale, rotten food. When he was skinny enough, he slipped between the cage's bars and lived in an alley in a trash heap. He was sick and lonely, and the little girl discovered him sitting on a trash can. She brought him home and let him live with her again.

It amazes me that someone would think that a story like this would be healthy and appropriate for young children to read. The illustrations are PATHETIC as well. Nothing is appealing about this book, and I highly recommend that you purchase pretty much ANYTHING alse for your children than this book. I am appalled that Scholastic would even put their name on it. It is not deserving a rating of even 1 star, but I had to rate it at least one to enter my review.