Bootsie Barker Bites
Seeing bully Bootsie Barker get her comeuppance is guaranteed to make young readers smile.It’s the worst when Bootsie Barker comes to my house. Bootsie’s the one who pulls my hair and tears my books. She hates Charlene, my pet salamander. She says that I’m a turtle and she’s a turtle-eating dinosaur.
Uh-oh, I think I hear a car pulling up. That’s her now! Eeek!
Best Books of 1993″ List
Young Hoosier Book Award List, 1994
School Library Journal (starred review) ★ “The story will be appreciated by all children …. The colorful drawings, filled with amusing detail, perfectly express the terroristic tactics and the narrator’s frustrations …. A book that treats a common and often troubling situation with an entertaining but effective touch.” —
Booklist (starred review) ★ “Bootsie comes over every day and the children ‘play’ while their mothers visit. … Playtime itself consists of[Bootsie] tormenting her playmate. When the shy young victim learns that Bootsie will be spending the night, she’s finally stirred to stand up for herself and scare the daylights out of her oppressor. Children will find this a profoundly satisifying turn of events . . . Expressive drawings gives this book unusual vitality . . . A natural for storytime.”
“Uproariously illustrated …. Hilarious.” —Publishers Weekly
KIRKUS REVIEW
BOOTSIE BARKER BITES
Abeleaguered small girl recounts her troubles with the daughter of her mother’s best friend, who terrorizes her on her frequent visits. Sent to the timid narrator’s room to play, Bootsie proclaims herself a dinosaur who will devour the child in whatever form she takes. Finally driven to confide in her mother, the child sensibly translates typical adult advice (“Tell Bootsie you don’t want to play that game”) into something Bootsie understands (“I am a PALEONTOLOGIST!…They hunt for DINOSAUR bones”). Rathmann matches Bottner’s vigorous telling in colorful art, her vividly expressive characters drawn with bold broken lines while every stance—even the toys’—comically echoes the narrator’s feelings. An entertaining, insightful glimpse into a child’s real world. (Picture book. 4-8)
GOODREADS
