The Day Louis Got Eaten

by John Fardell

Overview

When Louis gets eaten up by a Gulper, his big sister Sarah knows she has to act fast, and she sets off in hot pursuit. But rescuing a boy from a Gulper's tummy isn't so simple—especially when other strange and scary creatures are looking for their dinner too...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849393874
Publisher:	Andersen Press (UK)
Publication date:	02/28/2012
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	592,450
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

…delicious…The art is cartoony, in pen and ink with bright watercolors…the narrative is cleverly visualized in a succession of softly edged panels teeming with delightful action words…I love this book so much I want to eat it up.
—Lisa Brown

The New York Times Book Review

Louis and his big sister Sarah were out in the woods one day... when unfortunately... Louis was eaten up by Gulper.” Far from afraid, Sarah springs into action, chasing after the furry, egg-shaped monster on her bicycle. But just as she’s about to catch the Gulper, it’s eaten by a black, winged Grabular, which is in turn gobbled up by an Undersnatch, a giant tadpole-like creature. The hilariously preposterous chase unfolds quickly in Fardell’s panel illustrations, and Sarah shows bravery, ingenuity, and determination every step of the way: she reconfigures her bike again and again, outfitting it with a paddlewheel to traverse the sea and spidery legs to climb some Seussian rock formations. Thus, it’s especially disappointing that Fardell (Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High) relies on an amphibia ex machina resolution, which takes the form of a “Hiccup Frog” that causes the creatures gastrointestinal distress. Fardell gives Louis a moment to shine, too, and it’s clear he’s as nonchalantly brave as his sister—when she crawls through multiple stomachs to rescue him, he’s hanging out reading comic books. Ages 4–9. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A cumulative tale of gathering potency that riffs on Jonah and the Whale.

The first page of this tale is a dodge: A young boy with goo-goo eyes scooters off with his sister for a day in the forest near their idyllic woodland cottage. Yawn—apparently. The pen-and-ink drawing is pretty nifty, so it doesn't hurt to move ahead anyway. And that is for the best, as goo-goo eyes gets eaten by a Gulper. His sister, taking umbrage, gives chase, but before she can reach the Gulper, it is eaten by a Grabular. So it goes, with the sister in pursuit—on evermore inventive contraptions—and each crazy creature being devoured by a yet crazier one. The sister gets the Saber-toothed Yumper in the end, forcing it to disgorge all its stomach's contents, including the goo-goo–eyed brother, who turns out to be a tough dude after all. Things could be said here about the importance of persistence and the glories of sisters, all being true, but it might be best to see this book as a clever eye-catcher with a nicely tied-up story—there's nothing at all wrong with that.

A very merry, lighthearted entanglement." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

A cumulative tale of gathering potency that riffs on Jonah and the Whale. The first page of this tale is a dodge: A young boy with goo-goo eyes scooters off with his sister for a day in the forest near their idyllic woodland cottage. Yawn--apparently. The pen-and-ink drawing is pretty nifty, so it doesn't hurt to move ahead anyway. And that is for the best, as goo-goo eyes gets eaten by a Gulper. His sister, taking umbrage, gives chase, but before she can reach the Gulper, it is eaten by a Grabular. So it goes, with the sister in pursuit--on evermore inventive contraptions--and each crazy creature being devoured by a yet crazier one. The sister gets the Saber-toothed Yumper in the end, forcing it to disgorge all its stomach's contents, including the goo-goo–eyed brother, who turns out to be a tough dude after all. Things could be said here about the importance of persistence and the glories of sisters, all being true, but it might be best to see this book as a clever eye-catcher with a nicely tied-up story--there's nothing at all wrong with that. A very merry, lighthearted entanglement. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews