No, David! (Hardcover)

~ (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Parents will be quick to jump to the conclusion that there can be nothing appealing in a tale of an ugly kid who breaks things. And certainly--from that adult perspective--there's something off-putting about the illustrations of David, with his potato head, feral eyes, and a maniacal grin that exposes ferociously pointed teeth. But 3- and 4-year-olds see things differently, and will find his relentless badness both funny and liberating. "No, David," wails the off-stage mother, as David reaches for the cookie jar. "No! No! No!" as he makes a swamp out of the bathroom. "Come back here, David!" as he runs naked down the street. Each vivid double-page illustration is devoted to a different youthful indiscretion and a different vain parental plea. Readers will be amused to know that the protagonist's name is no accident: award-winning writer-illustrator David Shannon wrote the book after discovering a similar effort that he had made, again with himself at the center of each drawing, at the age of 5. (Ages 3 to 6) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly

In this boisterous exploration of naughtiness, Shannon (How Georgie Radbourne Saved Baseball) lobs one visual zinger after another as David, a little dickens, careens from one unruly deed to the next?coloring on the walls, tracking mud all over the carpet, jumping on the bed in red cowboy boots. Meanwhile, all those timeless childhood phrases echo in the background: "Come back here!" "Be quiet!" "Not in the house, David!" and most vigorously?"No!" Shannon's pen whisks over the double-page spreads in a flurry of energy, as he gains perspective on an image of a bare-bottomed David cavorting down a quiet suburban street or closes in on the boy's face as he inserts a finger into his triangle nose, his button eyes tense with concentration, and perfectly round head looming larger than the pages. While Shannon gives David the purposeful look of a child's crude drawings, his background settings (the kitchen sideboard, a toy-littered TV room) are fully rendered, effectively evoking the boy's sense of displacement. This dead-on take on childhood shenanigans ends on a high note, with the penitent David (he broke a vase with a baseball) enfolded in his mother's arms as she assures him, "Yes, David, I love you." Readers won't be able to resist taking a walk on the wild side with this little rascal, and may only secretly acknowledge how much of him they recognize in themselves. Ages 2-up.
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 edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590930028
• ISBN-13: 978-0590930024
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Core Curriculum for Preschoolers, February 6, 2001

By	Deborah D Gossell (Vacaville, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

I found No, David! three years ago while teaching a special education class for preschoolers with Austism. I was certain that I would receive a response from reading this book to them, as how many times are they told "NO"! Being a speech language pathologist I did expand on the dialog, saying what David was doing wrong. The students would paraphase the dialog with the same intonation or melodic intonation (scolding) I had used. We even wrote books about No, David!, doing inappropriate acts in our class room. It's amazing how well this book worked as a "social story". Many bad habits were reduced. Best of all, when I read "Come here, David" my students would come up to get a hug. This was the most verbally requested book from my students with Autism. At reading free choice, they would look at the pictures and preread using the dialog. I currently run a preschool special education preschool program for children with speech, language, and learning delays and start off the Fall reading No, David to decrease bad social behaviors. My students 3.0 to 5.0 love this book. I also give this book as a baby present.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've been "forced" to read this book over and over again!, November 4, 1999

By	J. Moore "SurroundedByBooks" (Prescott, AZ, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a volunteer reader to three classes of second graders. This book was read and (by popular demand) re-read to each class - over two months ago. Since that time, I have shared many, many excellent books with them. Not a week passes that they do not ask for this book - sometimes in the middle of another story! Before I leave the classroom, they often ask,"When are you going to read us 'No,David' again?" and then proceed to retell their favorite parts of the story. They absolutely LOVE this book and are fascinated with the wonderful drawings of David and his world. They definitely identify with David and the childhood travails of living with Mommy's NO! Ah, but the wonderful ending that has nothing to do with that awful word....

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, yes, David!, April 4, 2004

By	Andrea Mauk (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews

As a Kindergarten teacher and a lover of children's literature, I can tell you that No, David! is a very special book. This story does not need a lot of words in order to be captivating. Instead, it grabs the reader because it so accurately depicts the spirit of the child. Children will be children, and what to them is great fun, to an adult can be a definite no-no. It is through David's innocence, and his precarious foothold in the world, that we are instantly transported back to our own childhoods, where we too had to learn that there were consequences for our actions. I can't imagine that there is a person out there that cannot identify with the round-headed, gap-toothed David.

No, David! is one of those rare books that helps young children believe that they can read. Part of learning to read is memorization, and little ones quickly remember the exact words on each page of this book that they love to look at over and over again. And of course, there is no need to ask which page is their favorite. You'll know it when you see it, and when they see it, they can't stop laughing!

David Shannon has created several more entries in his "David" series, but for sure, the original is a modern children's literature classic.