Where Can Daniel Be? [Hardcover]

Leah Komaiko (Author), Denys Cazet (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up

When three-year-old Daniel is missing, his big sister imagines he has been captured by pirates.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Less successful than Komaiko's Annie Bananie or Earl's Too Cool for Me, this jumbled picture book opens dramatically with three-year-old Daniel's disappearance: "Was he stolen?/ Was he kidnapped?/ Is he dead?/ Check the hamper./ Search the attic./ Vacuum underneath the bed!" Daniel's older sister, the narrator here, imagines that he's been captured by pirates-"out on the planks/ those hairy sea apes/ are starving-it's lunchtime,/ but they've got just three grapes!" The focus remains on the sister, who imagines what will happen to her if Daniel isn't found: "I must sleep in the sandbox,/ take baths in a tree.../ eat ants from a bottle,/ sit in a bird's nest/ till the policeman comes calling." Planning to run away from this gloomy fate, she accidentally finds Daniel in the closet, happily eating chocolate ice cream. In spite of Cazet's ("I'm Not Sleepy") droll, action-filled watercolors and the humor of the story line, Komaiko's work suffers from forced rhymes, irregular meters and abrupt plot changes that, unfortunately, are not in tune with each turn of the page. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-A little girl in charge of her younger brother panics when she discovers that he is missing. "Was he stolen?/Was he kidnapped?/Is he dead?" she worries. After that blunt opening, the rhymed first-person narration moves rapidly into a fantasy world: he's on top of Mt. Trashmore, or riding on a wolf's back through the city, or maybe he's been captured by pirates. The macabre humor, based on the child's very real fear that Daniel is in great danger and that she will be severely punished because he has disappeared, is worrisome, at best: "...I'm going to prison/ for forty-four years!" Cazet's lively watercolor illustrations are reassuring and humorous, for wherever he appears, the baby is smiling and playful. At times the pictures fill the pages with splashes of activity; at others, a single image is surrounded by white space. The visual effect is, for the most part, lighthearted, in sharp contrast to the sobering subject. Stories can offer adults excellent opportunities to discuss real and imagined fears with children; however, the youngsters who might be attracted to this book may well encounter new terrors. For them, Sheila Rae, the Brave, (Greenwillow, 1987) by Kevin Henkes might be a better choice, while James Stevenson's "Grandpa" stories (Greenwillow) are more suitable for young school-age children.
Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531068501
• ISBN-13: 978-0531068502
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,765,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying imagery, July 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Where Can Daniel Be? (Library Binding)

I found myself paraphrasing the entire book because of its horrifying storyline. I never read it again to my kids. I didn't think it was funny, sweet or cute that the author (or the publisher) thought it was OK to suggest that baby Daniel had been stolen, kidnapped, was dead or boiled in oil by pirates! To add insult to injury, the big sister speculates that she'll be locked up at Grandma's and then shipped away in a suitcase, only to be arrested by a policeman (and sent to prison) for losing her baby brother. To avoid this inevitable fate, the big sister decides to run away because she's not loved anymore. There is not one redeeming quality about this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars I like the water colors. Lovely colors!, June 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Where Can Daniel Be? (Hardcover)

I like where can Daniel be because it was funny and it was colorful. I like his drawings because they're funny. I really liked the picture of the cat on the vaccumn cleaner. I also like Where Can Danial be because the words rhyme.