The Blah
Jack Kent ~ Parent's Magazine Press, 1970
One more Kent to end the day! Once again, here's Jack channeling the child who feels voiceless...
Once upon a time there was a Blah...
a nothing...a nobody...named Billy.
"I'm just a Blah!" Billy told his mother,
who was busy and wasn't really listening.
That's how it is being a Blah.
Nobody listens to you.
Billy' brother doesn't notice him either and runs right past, crushing his crayons in the process. So, Billy draws a picture of himself as a Blah. Deciding there must be other Blahs in the world, he draws more in all different colors except for the green, of course, because his brother smashed that one. In his colored world, Billy finds all sorts of disenfranchised people, and he and his Blahs decide to go into battle against Billy the Blah's brother... wherein a "jostling" match occurs, more crayons are smashed... until Billy's mother awakens him from his scribbled daydream and Billy finds out that sometimes, she feels Blah too. Man, do I know that feeling. I think we all can feel pretty blah sometimes.
As for the drawings, I love the contrast between the original characters and the ones Billy has colored. So smart and funny. Plus, the Blahs are awesome. And who doesn't love that little polliwog peeking out of the water in the illustration above? It's easy to get lost in Billy's daydream.
Also by:
Jack Kent's Twelve Days of Christmas
I Was Walking Down the Road
The Grown-Up Day
The Fox and the Crow
The Biggest Shadow in the Zoo
The Animobile Book
Jack Kent's Book of Nursery Tales
Dooly and the Snortsnoot
Mr. Meebles
Cindy Lou and the Witch's Dog
Clotilda
Jack Kent's Valentine Sticker Book
The Bremen-town Musicians
Round Robin
Just Only John
Fly Away Home
Fat Cat
Piggy Bank Gonzales
Socks for Supper
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7 comments:
This was one of the first Kent books I bought for my kids. Awesome!
I'm loving all the Jack Kent posts. I love the ones I have: Just Only John, There's No Such Thing as Dragons, Biggest Shadow in the Zoo, Hop, Skip, and Jump Book. But you're recommending so many I've never seen! Now I can't wait to get my hands on those!
really looks like a blah! Excellent.
Thanks for all the Jack Kent reviews. I found a copy of 'Mr Meebles' from Amazon and snatched it up. I can't wait for it to get here! I'm also quite giddy about a book I found today at my library bookstore called 'Prince Bertram the Bad' (Arnold Lobel 1963). Have you read that one? I got it for $1.00 and people are selling copies on Amazon for $99.00!! I'm looking forward to reading it to my daughter tomorrow (of course, she was more interested in a 'My little pony' book tonight, lol).
This book made me think of another I've just read about this morning - http://www.apple-egg.co.uk/journal/big-rabbits-bad-mood-delphine-durand.html
The Blah was one of my favourite books as a child. I completely related to Billy and feeling like a Blah sometimes. I have fond memories of reading the book to myself, then to my younger brothers and many years later to my own children. My children are grown now and so I've passed the book down to my brother's young children and read it to them when I visit. When you find something to identify with when you're a child and trying to sort out your feelings, it makes all the difference.
You forgot my favorite Kent book!!! "There's No Such Thing As A Dragon!" BEST BOOK EVER!!!
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