Mr. Gumpy's Outing Ages 2-8

PREVIEW

It's a pleasant day, so Mr. Gumpy decides to go for a boat ride. Each barnyard animal begs to join him, and Mr. Gumpy agrees-as long as each behaves! Two children join the fun, and as soon as the boat is launched, everyone does exactly what Mr. Gumpy asked them not to do. The result? Splash! This tale fits right into the toddler's sense of humor.

Mr. Gumpy's Outing

By John Burningham

Illustrated by John Burningham

Edition: reprint, illustrated

Published by Macmillan, 1990

ISBN 0805013156, 9780805013153

32 pages Board Book for Birth - 2, Ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
The book won the 1971 ALA Notable Children's Book award, the 1972 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 1971, and the 1970 Kate Greenaway Medal.

Mr. Gumpy's little scow becomes a ...... miniature ark when he takes two children and one each of various domestic animals for a ride. But no one heeds Mr. Gumpy's conditions and soon ""The goat kicked/ The pig mucked about/ The children ... more » squabbled"" and so on until ""The boat tipped/ and into the water they fell."" But the water appears so warmly inviting, and the tea they all share after they swim to the bank and dry in the sun so satisfying, that the promise of the first glowing page is fulfilled. Burningham's sketchy yellow lines make the sun shine on his pages, and his animals -- sometimes jaunty, more often appealingly hesitant -- are his alone, unostentatiously distinctive. Mr. Gumpy has the bumbling charm of an English Mr. Hulot and his outing is an unqualified pleasure.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
A kind fellow warns his fleet of passengers (both humans and animals) about proper boat etiquette in Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham. Charming pen-and-inks alternate with ... more » full-color illustrations to chronicle the growing chaos until the boat capsizes. Though Mr. Gumpy does not scold his cohorts, the gentle message is clear. ( June)

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