STOP STOP

Stop Stop
by Edith Thacher Hurd with pictures by Clement Hurd/ published 1961 by Harper & Row

Bought an old copy of this ages ago, and after the first run through, I thought to myself "Boy, what a crappy book." It's loaded with animals, so my son was hooked and I was forced to read it again and again and again. Only now do I fully appreciate its simple neurosis and how my son might find the come-up-ins the adult figure receives to be hilarious.

Suzie liked Miss Mugs, but she thought she WASHED too much.

That's about the gist of it. 'Ole anal Miss Mugs washes everything and drives poor little Suzie insane, until the animals at the zoo get quite enough of her washing and poo pooing and give her a washing she'll never forget!

Most famous for illustrating The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, these Clement drawings are not as whimsical, but you can definitely see the style there. According to the Harper Collins Web site, Clement married Edith after he was introduced to her by Margaret Wise Brown. Along with Leonard Weisgard, they must have been the most merry bunch of creative folks to be around.