Jane Read Martin

Summary :
A little girl hits her bother at his birthday party. Her parents then send her to her room because of it. She spends the time in her room thinking about what she is missing out on such as playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey and cake. Then she plans to stay in her room for ever but soon realizes if she does so she would not be able to go to her friend's sleep over so she plans on digging a long tunnel from her room to her friend's house, stopping along the way to carry out mischievous acts against her family. She is really mad at everyone because she thinks they all hate her, but then her parents and little brother come in and bring her downstairs for ice cream and cake and she enjoys the rest of the party with her family.

Review:

I think this a nice enough book. The message is clear " your parents don't hate you when they punish you". I like the imaginative way the author represents the thinking of children and their ideas. For example instead of just having the girl dig a tunnel the author has the girl plan to dig a tunnel and stop a long the way to do things like draining her little brother's bathtub or water. or grab cake from the kitchen table. It really gives a sense that this is a child coming up with the ideas.
The writing was clear if non memorable. The style of writing is simple narrative with little attention to detail. The illustration where opaque, they lacked the color that tends to keep children interested bu the fir the story well… (mais)