Customer Reviews

That's Silly: 2 (Smart Cat Book)

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THAT'S SILLY by William Sleator is a picture book about two children, Rachel and Tom, illustrated by Lawrence DiFiori.

This short book starts with the two children playing, and Tom keeps pretending, saying, "We are flying," when they're swinging, or, "This is a magic drink," when they're having lemonade. Each time Tom pretends, Rachel criticizes him, saying, "That's silly."

When Rachel finds a doll's head, which she argues is NOT magic, Tom's pretending starts to actually come true - he instructs Rachel to pretend she has the missing shopping list from her mother and she suddenly finds it in her pocket where she was sure it wasn't, and then when Rachel complains of the hot weather Tom imagines a cool breeze that actually begins to blow.

Soon, Rachel's wishes also begin to come true - she wishes herself and Tom into a picture she has drawn and then onto a balloon ride. She believes the doll's head is responsible for this magic and is worried when the object is lost out of the swaying, scary balloon. But, by pretending, the two soon bring the balloon safely back to the ground, landing in Rachel's back yard.

The story is somewhat imaginative, but nothing spectacular. And the artwork in the book is adequate - line drawings shaded in orange and shades of black and gray. They do a little to help bring the story to life, especially when the scary people drawings from Rachel's picture start to chase them. Overall, a mediocre picture book.