The Misadventures Of Sweetie Pie (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
The one thing I like about this is that the kids are not little angels nor do they learn their lesson in the end. That is a nice slice of reality for a children's book. Kids do mistreat their pets. They hurt them and often aren't held responsible and don't learn how to treat animals (of their fellow humans).I like a lot of Van Allsburg's work. This not so much. The illustrations are just OK. Sweetie Pie looks more like a tailless rat than a hamster in most of the pictures. Didn't Chris even LOOK at a hamster? Having owned several hamsters (Wolf, Odo, Bosie & a couple who were library pets rather than my own) I can guarantee you no hamster would put up with what Sweetie Pie did. Gerbils maybe, but not hamsters. You cross a hamster & he'll take a piece out of you. (Except for Wolf, he was the perfect, loving little rodent). Gerbils are much more even tempered.Just not feeling this one...and it looks like many others feel the same way for all sorts of reasons. This book is another great book by Chris Van Allsburg, which I have grown to love throughout this semester. It has won the Caldecott award twice!! The book tells a story about Sweetie Pie, a hamster that lives in a pet store. Sweetie Pie would love nothing more than to be let free as she watches the squirrels outside of the pet store. The hamster has had several homes but always seems to end up back inside of a cage. I thought the book was very relatable and Chris Van Allsburg did a great job of being expressive and detailed in his work. This would be a better book for slightly older children. This book may scare or upset younger children because no one wants to take care of the hamster and that is sad. Its a good book to be incorporated in a classroom because it shows that everyone needs to be loved no matter who you are.
What do You think about The Misadventures Of Sweetie Pie (2014)?
Dumb. Deeply deeply dumb. And the illustrations were not very good.
—jhjh1236
No. Kids look creepy and the story is heartbreaking.
—ruskaya140
Quite simply, this book was horrifying!
—nabiraarockstar
