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Doodleday
Mom has just one thing to tell Harvey on Doodleday-no drawing allowed! But surely drawing one little fly can't hurt. Not until Harvey's fly comes to life and starts to wreck the kitchen, that is! What can Harvey draw that will catch it? A spider! But the spider proves to be even more trouble. Only one thing is capable of stopping Harvey's rampaging doodles... Mom!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Ross Collins
182 books44 followersRoss was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1972.
He would eat anything and resembled a currant bun.
As he grew up he was fond of drawing, the Bionic Man and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1994 with a First in Illustration. In the same year he won the MacMillan Children's Book Prize an achievement that opened many doors in the Big Smoke.
Ross then spent two years in London cultivating an exotic image of the scribbling Scotsman abroad.
Longing for the cold and damp of the North, Ross returned to Glasgow, where he spends his time writing and illustrating children's books, doing animation character development, walking the dug by the banks of Loch Lomond and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
from http://www.rosscollins.net/whothisguy...
He would eat anything and resembled a currant bun.
As he grew up he was fond of drawing, the Bionic Man and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1994 with a First in Illustration. In the same year he won the MacMillan Children's Book Prize an achievement that opened many doors in the Big Smoke.
Ross then spent two years in London cultivating an exotic image of the scribbling Scotsman abroad.
Longing for the cold and damp of the North, Ross returned to Glasgow, where he spends his time writing and illustrating children's books, doing animation character development, walking the dug by the banks of Loch Lomond and precariously swinging backwards on chairs.
from http://www.rosscollins.net/whothisguy...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
September 13, 2011
Summary:
Doddleday is an imaginative story of a young boy who doesn't listen to his mother when she tell's him not to doodle on this day. She leaves to run some errands, while his dad is in his office working and the young boy grabs his pencils and pad and doodles away. He soon realizes that everything he draws come to life and cause havoc in his home and neighborhood. After the situation gets out of control, he screams for his mom and she quickly shows up to save the day. This story has a good plot. It builds on the simple question of "What is Doodleday". Things get out of control as it reaches its climax, and then plateau when the mom returns to save the day.
Age range:
This book is a K-3 book. Beginner readers will enjoy the theatrical illustrations. Young children who are unable to read will be able to follow along a very interesting story of Harvey and his rebellion on Doodleday. The language is simple enough for beginner readers to understand with a few challenging words to help push the reader to the next reading level.
Artistic Element:
The author made emphasis on certain words through different fonts and bolding certain words. This artistic element brought life to the words and helped the reader identify the tone. The book is very colorful and has detailed pictures on each page. It’s almost like a comic book but in a children's picture book format. These artistic elements make it an exciting story for early readers.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to an elementary teacher. This book makes a great book for reading aloud. The pictures will grab the young listener’s attention. Although I read this book silently, it felt like I was reading aloud with the emphasized and illustrated words. This book can turn any dull person into an animated and energetic reader.
Doddleday is an imaginative story of a young boy who doesn't listen to his mother when she tell's him not to doodle on this day. She leaves to run some errands, while his dad is in his office working and the young boy grabs his pencils and pad and doodles away. He soon realizes that everything he draws come to life and cause havoc in his home and neighborhood. After the situation gets out of control, he screams for his mom and she quickly shows up to save the day. This story has a good plot. It builds on the simple question of "What is Doodleday". Things get out of control as it reaches its climax, and then plateau when the mom returns to save the day.
Age range:
This book is a K-3 book. Beginner readers will enjoy the theatrical illustrations. Young children who are unable to read will be able to follow along a very interesting story of Harvey and his rebellion on Doodleday. The language is simple enough for beginner readers to understand with a few challenging words to help push the reader to the next reading level.
Artistic Element:
The author made emphasis on certain words through different fonts and bolding certain words. This artistic element brought life to the words and helped the reader identify the tone. The book is very colorful and has detailed pictures on each page. It’s almost like a comic book but in a children's picture book format. These artistic elements make it an exciting story for early readers.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to an elementary teacher. This book makes a great book for reading aloud. The pictures will grab the young listener’s attention. Although I read this book silently, it felt like I was reading aloud with the emphasized and illustrated words. This book can turn any dull person into an animated and energetic reader.
July 7, 2011
A cross between the old lady who swallowed a fly and Jeremy Draws a Monster. Yes, I will explain that. On doodleday, your doodles come alive! So a drawing of a fly necessitates the drawing of a spider to eat the fly, which of course means you have to draw a bird to eat the spider, etc. My favorite was when the story jumped suddenly from cat to GIANT SQUID. And what's the only creature on Earth that can take down a giant squid? A mom. Duh.
November 20, 2018
Doodleday by Ross Collins is a creative and unique tale about a young boy and his struggle when his drawing come to life on doodleday! Harvey wanted to color while his parents were away but the mom warned him that it was doodleday but Harvey did not know what that meant so he drew anyway. Harvey drew a fly and then when it came to life he drew a spider to eat the fly but the spider just caused more chaos. This continued to happen until Harvey’s mom came and saved the day by drawing herself and getting the drawings to go back into the sketch book. Moreover, this is a story that I would love to have in my classroom because it is humorous, engaging, and truly challenge the children to open their imaginations and think creatively! Lastly, the illustrations are colorful, quirky, and truly bring the story to life in a humorous fashion.
December 11, 2018
My favorite kids book of the year [that I've had to read].
I love the idea of drawings coming to life, of a kid trying to logically [at first] thwart his own drawings with what would take care of that kind of animal in nature, of mom saving the day [especially of mom saving the day].
Kinda annoyed that no parent explained what Doodleday was, why he asks if its every year [seems like it should be], why 2 seconds couldn't be spared to save the street from all this destruction [we can't pay for all of this].
It's silly and cute and an easy read for anyone 3+.
I love the idea of drawings coming to life, of a kid trying to logically [at first] thwart his own drawings with what would take care of that kind of animal in nature, of mom saving the day [especially of mom saving the day].
Kinda annoyed that no parent explained what Doodleday was, why he asks if its every year [seems like it should be], why 2 seconds couldn't be spared to save the street from all this destruction [we can't pay for all of this].
It's silly and cute and an easy read for anyone 3+.
November 20, 2019
The book is about a young boy who draws on 'doodleday'. He doesn't know that on 'doodleday' drawings come to life. He ends up drawing more and more to stop the doodles he's already drawn. Eventually his mum comes to help him. I think that this is a great book because it explores the idea of imagination and drawings coming to life.
There is a cross curricular link to science because he thinks about which animal will stop the one he's just drawn. For example, he started with a fly, then he drew a spider and then a bird.
There is a cross curricular link to science because he thinks about which animal will stop the one he's just drawn. For example, he started with a fly, then he drew a spider and then a bird.
October 28, 2020
There is a focus on the characters due to the white space on the pages. Lots of words are in bold which add emphasis. The bold colours which would appeal to children. The story tells of Harvey who is told not to draw on doodleday, he does and his drawings come to life and cause havoc.
February 28, 2024
It was a good book to show how you should always listen to your parents. As well as how one's writing or thoughts could be so powerful. This book really helps bring out the students imagination which i believe is important.
March 5, 2024
What would happen if everything you doodled came to life and you did not have your parents around to help? This book teaches that it is okay to need help sometimes and you do not have to grow up all at once.
October 6, 2017
This is unlike so many other children's books. It's the story of a boy who loves to draw, but is warned by his mom not to draw on Doodleday. He ignores her and draws anyway...what could it hurt?
March 19, 2018
Fantastic for reading aloud!
June 8, 2018
Ha! This book made me laugh. A tale about drawings coming to life, the "mom" at the end really makes this one shine.
June 22, 2018
I read this to the first graders for fun - I think we can all relate to being told not to do something and then finding out the hard way why.
January 6, 2020
Fantastic illustrations, great for reading aloud. This would be a perfect book to use for International Dot Day (Peter Reynolds) in September.
August 2, 2020
Harvey just wants to draw pictures, but his mother warns him that he can't because it's Doodleday. Of course Harvey doesn't listen. Read to find out why his mother gave him the warning.
December 27, 2023
One of my son's absolutely favorite books to read.
January 11, 2024
The book is good and projects that your thoughts are more powerful than you imagine. It also allows for people to understand that mistakes are okay.
February 4, 2025
A bit of a rip off of Harold and the Purple Crayon along with the old lady who swallowed a fly, but it was a cute book and a quick read.
July 14, 2025
I love drawing so I enjoyed reading it. It made me fresh. I enjoyed when doodles came to life.
September 22, 2013
"Doodleday" is the opposite of what I was expecting! On the first page, the little boy Harvey's mother tells him that there is to be absolutely no drawing on Doodleday. From the title, I was expecting the book to be full of doodling on a day dedicated to doodling. It turns out that Harvey, instead of following his mother's instructions, doodles a fly on a pad of paper. This fly comes to life in giant bug form in his kitchen! Harvey creates a big spider to get rid of the fly, but the spider attacks his dad instead. Harvey creates more and more things to destroy what he has already drawn, but eventually the city is being overtaken by Harvey's doodles. Harvey needs his mom! He calls out to her and Harvey's mom knows just what to do. She creates a doodle mom that orders all of the doodles to return to the notebook. They do so quickly and Harvey's mother gently reminds Harvey that he cannot doodle on Doodleday. The ending is very abrupt and not very descriptive, but in a way it is funny. I think children can relate to the ending more than adults. After Harvey's mom gets rid of all the doodles, Harvey looks at his mom and asks "Is Doodleday every year?" This is funny because despite the mess that just happened due to Harvey's doodles, he is simply wondering if there is going to be other Doodledays in the future. This is how young children think. The illustrations are colorful, and the most descriptive part of the illustrations are the facial expressions of Harvey and his mother. The doodles are great because they resemble the rough sketches of children, but they have come to life with faces in this story. My favorite page is the page that just has a picture of Harvey in shear panic screaming "MOM" and his mother in the background running for him. This shows that no matter what happens, a mother can fix it! :)
March 10, 2011
I found this book to be delightful tribute to the world of imagining. Harvey's mother warns him before she leaves for the store that he mustn't do any doodling while she is gone, because it is Doodleday. Harvey does not understand why this is the case so he picks up his colored pencils and starts doodling, first a fly that to his shock raids the refrigerator. Harvey quickly draws a spider to get rid of the fly, unfortunately the spider is more interested in his father. To get rid of the spider, he draws a bird, which proceeds to rip out their fence. I'll let you discover the last creature he draws in his desperate bid to fix the devastation being wrought. Hint: look closer at the cover. Finally, he gets help from the only creature tougher than any drawing: MOTHER.
I love the humor of this book, any child can relate to getting themselves into situations that require help to get out of. The book is a fun reminder that while visiting other places is great and fun and intriguing, sometimes there is not better place to be than home. The use of what I assume is crayon to contrast the drawings with the rest of the illustration is inspired fun, perfect for reading curled up in bed or as a read aloud with a class full of children. Sure to be a hit.
I love the humor of this book, any child can relate to getting themselves into situations that require help to get out of. The book is a fun reminder that while visiting other places is great and fun and intriguing, sometimes there is not better place to be than home. The use of what I assume is crayon to contrast the drawings with the rest of the illustration is inspired fun, perfect for reading curled up in bed or as a read aloud with a class full of children. Sure to be a hit.
November 8, 2018
I very much enjoyed this book. I couldn't imagine what Doodleday was, so it was fun to see what was happening. Very fun to see Harvey trying to fix it, and yet it just getting worse. My favorite part was watching the story progression in the illustrations--especially everything related to Dad. So many details that would be missed in a storytime setting. However, I think the book would work quite well in a preschool storytime. Also a school-age. And definitely a read-alone and lap-read. The solution was fabulous. I loved it.
Should be a fun Beehive nominee choice.
9/30/15 Used as closer in Art Time! theme. The kids really enjoyed seeing his doodles come to life. (Had to explain doodle at the beginning.) They liked the solution--one of the adults laughed really hard. So a success among all ages.
11/5/18-11/7/18 I read this one the most for this week's school visits. Can't remember which ones, but the grades I covered were 1, 2, 3, and 5. All ages loved it, but the older kids reacted a bit more enthusiastically than the younger. Lots of fun reading it and seeing the same reactions to the kids when he went to draw the spider. And very impressive and Right On! how many kids guessed that Mom would draw a mom.
Should be a fun Beehive nominee choice.
9/30/15 Used as closer in Art Time! theme. The kids really enjoyed seeing his doodles come to life. (Had to explain doodle at the beginning.) They liked the solution--one of the adults laughed really hard. So a success among all ages.
11/5/18-11/7/18 I read this one the most for this week's school visits. Can't remember which ones, but the grades I covered were 1, 2, 3, and 5. All ages loved it, but the older kids reacted a bit more enthusiastically than the younger. Lots of fun reading it and seeing the same reactions to the kids when he went to draw the spider. And very impressive and Right On! how many kids guessed that Mom would draw a mom.
October 26, 2012
This is such an imaginative story although it is definitely reminiscent of "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly". It's probably too long for a preschool storytime, but kids with longer attention spans will love it.
Mom is going to the store and she warns Harvey not to bother Dad because he's busy. Harvey tells his mom not to worry and that he can keep busy by doodling. Mom is horrified and exclaims that he must not draw because it is Doodleday. Harvey thinks this is crazy and when she leaves he doodles anyway. First he draws a fly. Immediately after he realizes why he wasn't supposed to doodle on Doodleday--he discovers a giant hand-drawn fly raiding his refrigerator. His drawing had come to life! So then he draws a spider to catch the fly and and then a bird to catch the spider and a squid to catch the bird. The squid is about to destroy the whole town when Harvey cries for mom and she comes to the rescue. She saves the day by furiously drawing a picture of herself. Her drawing yells at the other drawings to get back into the notebook. He obey her immediately.
Mom is going to the store and she warns Harvey not to bother Dad because he's busy. Harvey tells his mom not to worry and that he can keep busy by doodling. Mom is horrified and exclaims that he must not draw because it is Doodleday. Harvey thinks this is crazy and when she leaves he doodles anyway. First he draws a fly. Immediately after he realizes why he wasn't supposed to doodle on Doodleday--he discovers a giant hand-drawn fly raiding his refrigerator. His drawing had come to life! So then he draws a spider to catch the fly and and then a bird to catch the spider and a squid to catch the bird. The squid is about to destroy the whole town when Harvey cries for mom and she comes to the rescue. She saves the day by furiously drawing a picture of herself. Her drawing yells at the other drawings to get back into the notebook. He obey her immediately.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2013
This is another book that won the Washington State Children's Choice Picture Book Award. This story is about a young boy that wants to doodle but his mom says not to doodle on Doodleday and then leaves for some errands. He decides nothing bad could happen so he starts doodling a fly and it comes to life! So then he has to doodle more and more animals and insects to try to get rid of the one before and it ends up making a large mess. But then the mom comes home and doodles herself and Doodle Mom saves the day! I thought this book was very creative and very humorous as well. I think that children definitely would have fun with this story and it could even be used with a lesson where the teacher reads the book to the class and the class then has to write a short story, journal, or art project about what they would doodle and what would happen when it came to life. I also thought it was very cute how the mom was the hero of the story and something that could be relatable to some of the kids.
April 8, 2014
Collins, R. (2011). Doodleday. Chicago, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company.
On Doodleday, The main character Harvey's mother told him he must not draw on Doodleday but did not tell him why. As soon as she left, he began to draw. He drew a fly. All of a sudden he went to the kitchen, and his drawing had came to life! So he began drawing different animals that he thought could eat the previous one but none of them did that. Eventually his mom comes to his rescue and draws a drawing of a mom that tells all the drawings to get back into the doodle pad. I rate this story 4/5. I thought it was a little predictable, and I did not find it very entertaining, though it was a well written story.
On Doodleday, The main character Harvey's mother told him he must not draw on Doodleday but did not tell him why. As soon as she left, he began to draw. He drew a fly. All of a sudden he went to the kitchen, and his drawing had came to life! So he began drawing different animals that he thought could eat the previous one but none of them did that. Eventually his mom comes to his rescue and draws a drawing of a mom that tells all the drawings to get back into the doodle pad. I rate this story 4/5. I thought it was a little predictable, and I did not find it very entertaining, though it was a well written story.
April 11, 2011
I did not expect "Doodleday" to be a day where you could not draw. When reading this to students challenge students to imagine what would happen if their drawings came to life! Who would they ask to help them? Every child can relate to needing help after getting themselves into a sticky situation. As a read aloud, this book is bound to create giggles and ideas! I love the illustrations that contrast each other between ink and crayon. You see the "professional" print verses the crayon drawings that are "child-like". While reading this to young students, they can imagine themselves drawing similar images. :)
July 20, 2011
I don't know what it is about Ross Collins simple but colorful picture books but I LOVE THEM! His stories are always silly fun read-a-loud's for all ages to enjoy. In this story Harvey decides that he wants to entertain himself by doodling while his mom getting ready to run some errands. His mother sees what he is about to do and quickly yanks the pencil from his hand and tell him "NO!" This is Doodle Day and everybody knows that you don't draw on Doodle Day! Well a story wouldn't be a story if it ended their now would it? So Harvey doodles and discovers why drawing on Doodle Day is something one shouldn't do.
November 23, 2011
Harvey’s mother has a fit when, as she is leaving the house for the store, she finds her son drawing. She grabs the pencil from Harvey’s hand, warning him that no one may draw on Doodleday. Of course, Harvey ignores her admonitions and soon he is drawing a fly. And suddenly what does Harvey see flying around the kitchen? The fly that he just drew. Things quickly grow worse and worse and Harvey draws more and more things to try to stop his drawings. Finally Mom arrives back home to save the day.
“But Harvey’s spider didn’t care for flies. It was far more interested in his dad.
Harvey wondered if a drawing could eat you. He wasn’t going to wait to find out…”
“But Harvey’s spider didn’t care for flies. It was far more interested in his dad.
Harvey wondered if a drawing could eat you. He wasn’t going to wait to find out…”
August 20, 2011
Enjoyable & good for storytime. It would be fun to read with There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly, and with Bad Day at Riverbend, an old one by Chris Van Allsburg (or Jumanji). I enjoyed that the crayon drawings came to life as is, rather than like they did in Chalk (a realistic version of the children's chalk drawings). I liked watching how the consequences continued to play out once the doodles were released (the spiderweb that appeared between the houses, the Dad hung from the streetlight). I liked that the solution was not something even bigger, but something more powerful: a Mom!
August 10, 2011
Age:
Grades K-3
Genre:
fiction
Diversity:
Imagination; monsters
Illustrations:
The illustrations are created with crayons, acrylics, and pen.
Personal response:
The book is very creative and bring a child's drawings to life, literally. It's cute with the "Doodleday" holiday and the adventures that happen. I enjoyed the text being all over the pages and non-linear. The book and story is fun and great for children.
Curricular or programming connections:
This book would be good for a social studies lesson on holidays or an art lesson using crayons.
Grades K-3
Genre:
fiction
Diversity:
Imagination; monsters
Illustrations:
The illustrations are created with crayons, acrylics, and pen.
Personal response:
The book is very creative and bring a child's drawings to life, literally. It's cute with the "Doodleday" holiday and the adventures that happen. I enjoyed the text being all over the pages and non-linear. The book and story is fun and great for children.
Curricular or programming connections:
This book would be good for a social studies lesson on holidays or an art lesson using crayons.
August 11, 2011
I like the story arc and it has lots of potential, like maybe for a kids tv show. But for a book about doodling, an act that embodies naked creativity and spur of the moment random imagination, my main gripe is that the illustrations are very canned,(almost as if done by a computer program), even the doodles look suspiciously rendered by a well trained graphic artist. My second beef is that the text is layed out very awkwardly and well honestly, not that well written. The cover, however, should keep this one circulating for awhile.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews