Customer Reviews

Stagestruck

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When his teacher announces the kindergarteners are going to perform "Peter Rabbit" for the entire school, young, tousle-haired Tommy hopes he gets the lead. After all, he played John Alden in the Thanksgiving play and takes weekly tap dance lessons. However, Peter's excited and repeated classroom whispers annoy his teacher:

"Since you cannot pay attention, you will not play Peter Rabbit." (Ouch!)

"You will be Mopsy!" "But Mopsy is a girl bunny!" Tommy said.

(Double Ouch!) "Not in our play..."

Tommy seems to take ths setback professionally. He remembers that what his tapdance instructor told him: Onstage performers should react to what their fellow performers do. FOr example, if they do something funny, act like a member of the audience and laugh.

However, Tommy overdoes it during "Peter Rabbit." In veteran author/illustrator Tomie De Paola's acrylic illustrations, Tommy looks so surprised, sad, sick, etc. that he's basically just mugging for his young audience, and they eat it up. His teacher smilingly tells Tommy he's a ham; However, his mom informs him that he stole the show. He is to tell Johnny (who played Peter) and the teacher that he is sorry, and he does. He pauses and seems to agree. However, in a too-quick conclusion, Tommy remembers the audience's attention and applause, and he can hardly wait to get back onstage.

That's it? As portrayed in the book, Tommy's apologies seem perfunctory and with insufficient comprehension. His teacher is both too stern and too forgiving; she doesn't respond appropriately to Tommy's unintentional scene stealing. And Tommy, who's only five and did not act (it appears, anyway) maliciously, is treated punitively rather than with empathy and a focus on understanding. The story is too shallow, with one subplot about a shy girl in the play, and the adult "voice" (the "message") is confusing. Illustrations are pleasant and colorful, but, like the story, they lack complexity and dimension.

Stagestruck is a fun little story. It get's the children thinking about ways we should and shouldn't act during school. For example when Tommy is daydreaming and not paying attention during class. As usual the illustrations are in DePaulo style cherub looking children. In fact while I was reading the story to the class one child asked why he was wearing roller skates refereeing the the cover of the book. The class also needed to know what stagestruck meant when I was done reading the story.

I normally love anything by Tomie dePaola. I felt that as usual, the illustrations were great. The story, however, was a little confusing to the children as I read it to them. Was the boy naughty? Was he making okay choices? Why was he so happy at the end after he had had to apologise for stealing the show? It made the students think that maybe it was okay to be a ham and steal someone else's thunder. Woops!