The Brownstone

by Paula Scher, Stan Mack (Artist)

Overview

Living in harmony with your neighbor isn't always easy, but it's doubly difficult if you're a bear living in a New York City brownstone, getting ready to hibernate, and the kangaroos' tap dancing upstairs and Miss Cat's piano playing reverberate through the walls and floors. But Miss Cat has her own complaint: the cooking smells from the pigs downstairs. Happily, the wise owl landlord rearranges everybody so they can live in peace. This warm and funny story, slightly revised from the 1972 original, shows the young reader that you can learn to respect and live with others who are different from you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616894283
Publisher:	Princeton Architectural Press
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,333,933
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paula Scher is a managing partner for Pentagram, and the author of Make It Bigger, and Paula Scher Maps. This is her first children's book.

Stan Mack has authored several children's books, and pioneered a documentary style of cartooning with his notorious New York comic strip "Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies," which ran in The Village Voice.

Editorial Reviews

…charming, timeless…a hugely entertaining brain teaser. Bursting with color, this handsome new edition really shows off Mack's witty drawings.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

"A charming, timeless story becomes also a hugely entertaining brain teaser. Bursting with color, this handsome new edition really shows off Mack's witty drawings." - New York Times

"Playful assurance that however vast our differences, there is always a mutually satisfying solution to be found." — Brain Pickings

"Paula Scher's entertaining story, packed with sound effects from CRASH! to THUMP-THUMP-THUMPETY-THUMP! is wonderful to read aloud, and the splendid pen-and-ink illustrations by Stan Mack will delight a new generation in this 2016 edition of the 1973 classic.... A fabulous, funny ode to cacophonous but ultimately harmonious problem-solving." - Shelf Awareness Starred Review

"Mr. Bear and his family have just settled down for their winter naps when they are rudely awoken by Miss Cat singing across the hall in their brownstone. This reprinted tale about neighborly behavior is also about the quirks of architecture—and the illustrations from 1973 match the charm of the story." -Metropolis

"Like the tiles in a sliding puzzle, the animal inhabitants of a three-story townhouse in 'The Brownstone' have to move around many times, left to right, up and down and sometimes back again, before everyone slots into the right place to live. This 1973 picture book, now back in print, pairs a pleasantly confusing story by graphic designer Paula Scher with Stan Mack's color-daubed, wobbly-lined drawings. In scenes that will resonate with apartment dwellers, the trouble starts when the bear family tries to hibernate just as Miss Cat begins her voice exercises. Before long, everyone in the building (including the pig and mouse clans and a dancing kangaroo couple on the top floor) starts madly swapping apartments in an effort to find the arrangement that suits everyone best." — Wall Street Journal

"A wonderful read-aloud.. Repetitive text, plenty of sound effects, and increasing hullabaloo lend the story the feel of an old yarn. The pen-and-ink drawings by Stan Mack add humorous details and a cheerful, almost Seussian absurdity." - School Library Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—Six animal households try to get along in this wry reprint originally published in 1973. Noise, odors, and menacing neighbors send one household after another to knock on the live-in owl landlord's door. He orchestrates apartment swaps that only make matters worse until he settles on the perfect arrangement: like-minded neighbors find one another, prey escape predators, and the bear family can finally settle in for their winter nap. Repetitive text, plenty of sound effects, and increasing hullabaloo lend the story the feel of an old yarn. While it would make a wonderful read-aloud, only a handful of pictures are large enough to share with groups. Most illustrations show a cutaway view of the brownstone interior, allowing readers to peek into all six apartments at once. The pen-and-ink drawings by New Yorker cartoonist Mack add humorous details and a cheerful, almost Seussian absurdity. A silly tale about neighborliness and problem-solving that will work best for small groups or one-on-one sharing.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

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