A Bad Case Of Stripes (Hardcover)

~ (Illustrator) "Camilla Cream loved lima beans..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On this disturbing book's striking dust jacket, a miserable Betty-Boop-like girl, completely covered with bright bands of color, lies in bed with a thermometer dangling from her mouth. The rainbow-hued victim is Camilla Cream, sent home from school after some startling transformations: "when her class said the Pledge of Allegiance, she turned red, white, and blue, and she broke out in stars!" Scientists and healers cannot help her, for after visits from "an old medicine man, a guru, and even a veterinarian... she sprouted roots and berries and crystals and feathers and a long furry tail." The paintings are technically superb but viscerally troubling?especially this image of her sitting in front of the TV with twigs and spots and fur protruding from her. The doe-eyed girl changes her stripes at anyone's command, and only nonconformity can save her. When she finally admits her unspeakable secret?she loves lima beans?she is cured. Shannon (How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball) juggles dark humor and an anti-peer-pressure message. As her condition worsens, Camilla becomes monstrous, ultimately merging with the walls of her room. The hallucinatory images are eye-popping but oppressive, and the finale?with Camilla restored to her bean-eating self?brings a sigh of relief. However, the grotesque images of an ill Camilla may continue to haunt children long after the cover is closed. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2?A highly original moral tale acquires mythic proportions when Camilla Cream worries too much about what others think of her and tries desperately to please everyone. First stripes, then stars and stripes, and finally anything anyone suggests (including tree limbs, feathers, and a tail) appear vividly all over her body. The solution: lima beans, loved by Camilla, but disdained for fear they'll promote unpopularity with her classmates. Shannon's exaggerated, surreal, full-color illustrations take advantage of shadow, light, and shifting perspective to show the girl's plight. Bordered pages barely contain the energy of the artwork; close-ups emphasize the remarkable characters that inhabit the tale. Sly humor lurks in the pictures, too. For example, in one double-page spread the Creams are besieged by the media including a crew from station WCKO. Despite probing by doctors and experts, it takes "an old woman who was just as plump and sweet as a strawberry" to help Camilla discover her true colors. Set in middle-class America, this very funny tale speaks to the challenge many kids face in choosing to act independently.?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press; 1st Printing edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590929976
• ISBN-13: 978-0590929974
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read aloud!, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This is a great read aloud for any age. I read it to my sixth graders and my third graders and both classes loved this book. David Shannon has done it again. In this book he teaches a lesson of knowing who we are and not following the crowd. The main character, Camilla Cream is worried about what to wear the first day of school, as she has so many friends to impress. After trying on forty-two outfits she looks in the mirror and screams. She has broken out with a bad case of stripes. This is a hillarious story of what Camilla has to go through with her case of stripes. Davis Shannon's illustrations add so much to the story. The cover itself will attract readers. I have decided that David Shannon is my new favorite author and illustrator. I highly recommend this book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "She's a Rainbow--She Comes in Colors Everywhere", February 9, 2006

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It's the first day of school, and pre-pubescent Camille wants dearly to fit in with her schoolmates. She's so concerned, in fact, that she dare not tell them that she actually enjoys eating the ubiquitously hated lima bean--bane of the no-green-foods set. So you can imagine how conformity minded Camille feels when, for unknown reasons, her skin turns into a rainbow of striped colors extending from forehead to toes. If you can't imagine, author David Shannon informs us that her mother screams, and Camille is so afraid of what people will say that she is glad her mom is keeping her home from school. Aha, but not so fast! The aptly named Dr. Bumble, attuned only to physical symptoms and psychologically inept, OKs Camille for school.

As if stripes were bad enough, Camille discovers that her skin color responds to voice commands from the other kids, who color her in unusual patterns and colors. So much for blending in with the crowd! Worse yet, when a collection of similarly unsympathetic "expert" doctors prescribe medicine and describe bacteria and viruses, Camille's head turns into a gumball machine of pills, and giant, colored worm-like bugs attach themselves to her. She looks fascinatingly grotesque, morphing into a colorful but mostly unrecognizable collage of bacteria, roots, berries, feathers, abstract designs, feathers, and even a tail. Eventually, her whole face is relocated into various parts of her bedroom (hung pictures are her eyes; the couch is her mouth).

So, what's the point of this Dali-esque imagery, and who's going to like it? First, let's look at the resolution: A winking elderly woman feeds Camille some lima beans through her couch-mouth, and Camille's acceptance of her secret food love returns her to her pre-striped self. The theory goes like this: Embrace your feelings, no matter how unpopular they may be, and the real you will emerge. It's a good, if facile message: Probably too simple for older kids and perhaps too subtle for some of the younger ones.

Adults and teens will appreciate Shannon's bold and imaginative creativity, and older or more mature kids may be enthralled by the skillfully depicted and dramatic bodily changes. However, elements of this fantasy could be disturb some children, depending perhaps (and I claim no expertise here) on their sense of security, boundaries, suggestibility, and recognition of fantasy. There's a yellow flag here, buyers should be aware of the young audience's capacity to view all this with a healthy detachment, and a sense that it's all pretend. This seems particularly relevant when doctors--for many a trusted authority figure--as well as young friends apparently exert such control over Camille's appearance. There's no question that Shannon is an incredibly talented illustrator and crafty storyteller, but this book could elicit a variety of reactions (especially from younger kids), and adults should try to gauge the likely emotional response from their audience.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, funny and educational - Perfect!, August 23, 2000

By	Annette Autrata "autrata" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has passed the kids-test with flying colors in our household. My three children 4-7 pick it out of the hundreds of books they own or borrow time and time again. The illustration is colorful and funny. The story has enough realism to anchor it into a child's world but plenty of fantasy to make it adventurous and interesting. Best of all, the morale of the story, (that a child can be herself and doesn't need to suppress personality traits, likes and dislikes just to fit in) is conveyed in a compassionate and not at all preachy voice. It comes across even for a child in the targeted age range. A wonderful children's book.