The Backward Way

by Ruth Krauss, Marc Simont (Illustrator)

Imagine your whole day lived backward, from beginning to end. When you got up, you’d put on your jacket, then your shirt and pants, and over those your underwear, because after all, backward is backward, and on a backward day backward is the way everything has to be. You’d walk downstairs backward and sit on your chair backward with your back to the table, and when your parents greeted you in the morning you’d say, of course, “Good night.” But how long can a backward day go on? Just long enough for a smart kid to reverse the spell he’s cast on the whole household and return everything to normal. The Backward Day, a delightfully stylish picture book by the Caldecott Prize–winning team of Marc Simont and Ruth Krauss, brings to life a humorous and engaging reversal of ordinary reality that will enchant young children, as well parents.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Humor, Juvenile

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Ruth Ida Krauss was an American writer of children's books, including The Carrot Seed, and of theatrical poems for adult readers.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Backward Day sound interesting? It might be if it involved more than putting on your clothes in the wrong order, going down the stairs backward, and sitting wrong was round in the chairs. Kudos to the kid for realizing it was a weak idea; otherwise how were they going to eat breakfast?

[Kelly Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this was written in the 50s! It's a little wordy compared to today's standards, but the story is deliciously irreverent. The little boy announces it's backward day, and his whole family just goes along without questioning it. A perfect example of "playful parenting"!

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love about this book is that it's from the 50s but shows the dad, suit, tie, and all, fully participating in very silly family life, no questions asked.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could you find a more charming story about a little boy who on a whim decides "When it's backward day, it's backward day." My daughter wanted to know when backward day would come and got up and started walking backward (with her head turned so she could see where she was going) out of the room.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems aimed at a lower age so I guess we read it too late. Very simple and not really inspiring to try a backward day actually. Hey kids - who wants to be extremely uncomfortable with your underwear on over your coat, not eat breakfast and go straight back to bed?

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny. Also a boundary-smasher.

Children love this backwards concept, since they're just beginning to adjust to our wacky time here on Earth School.

When my son was growing up, a family favorite was the song "Backwards Birthday Party," composed and performed by Tom Chapin. Magnificent!

This book goes into fascinating details, involving the entire family, in order to turn the day backward and then make it all come around right. (Reminding me of the hymn, "'Tis a gift to be simple."

You could think of this as a book to:

1. Direct imagination
2. Encourage imagination
3. Prepare children to think creatively
4. Encourage your child to read-and-understand science fiction
5. Lead a life of all possibilities

IN CONCLUSION

* Thank you, uniquely spiritual picture book author Ruth Krauss.
* Thank you, Marc Simont, an illustrator who makes all drawings strongly resemble everyday life (quite a feat, under the circumstances).

FIVE BIG STARS

[Jane Maple · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy wakes up puts his clothes on backwards (first his coat and his underwear last). He goes down to breakfast everyone (his parents, little sister and himself) all sit in the wrong chairs backwards at the table. The boy goes back up stairs and then he announces that backward day is over.

The illustrations are cute but the story is just kind of there. I think it might have worked better had it attempted to go through a whole day and/or been more consistent on what backwards day is. (Is it doing things backwards - like putting clothes on backwards or is it just a silly day when Mommy does things like sit in little sister's high chair?) As it is the story feels very unfocused and half hearted.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krauss gets kids, that's for sure. As an adult, I'm a bit bemused; this boy's family was sure quick on the uptake (maybe they're used to his cleverness, his eccentricities, his imagination). I'm glad that it's not been updated - the boy's "suit" of clothes from the 1950s could have been relabeled "uniform" or something but wasn't. I'm definitely glad for everyone's sake that the 'day' only lasted about an hour.

[Juushika · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has an unapologetic childlike playfulness, and I appreciate the rest of the family joining in; the art is adequate, if unremarkable. But I wish it were more fully realized: it ends just as soon as it gets going, and so mostly feels tedious--not weird or fun or an impetus to play. (This is probably another that's too young for me to appreciate.)

[Say Mayfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absurd and cute. Love the idea. In terms of the writing itself I think it lacks that something that is exciting about a children's book. To me it reads like a short story of an absurdist - everyone's doing backward day just because! very fun.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy wakes up and decides that today is Backwards Day, so he does everything backwards. It's a simple book that tells the story without frills.

[Anajoy-rusticgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garth loved this

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INkSs...

[Seema Rao · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1950s book has wonderful, classic renderings of a family and clear easy to read text

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't understand this book at all. It's about a boy who does everything backwards and his family joins in and then when they do it he goes back to doing everything normal. Um, okay. My rating - 1/5

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you imagine your whole day lived backward, from beginning to end? When you got up, you’d put on your jacket, then your shirt and pants, and over those your underwear, because after all, backward is backward, and on a backward day backward is the way everything has to be. You’d walk downstairs backward and sit on your chair backward with your back to the table, and when your parents greeted you in the morning you’d say, of course, “Good night.” I think that would be a very confusing day. The Backward Day a picture book that won the Caldecott Prize winning team by the author Ruth Krauss. This book is very humorous and very funny for young children to read, even parents. The illustrations in this book are very good and very intriguing to young readers. I think this book would be appealing to all young readers. The Backyard Day would be a great book for families to read together. The appropriate age group for this family would be ages 3 to 5 years of age. The words were small and understandable for young children.

[Tayler Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krauss, Ruth, and Marc Simont. The Backward Day. New York Review of Books, 2007. This is the story of an imaginative young boy who decides that it is a "backwards day." Consequentially, everything he does throughout the day is entirely backwards. From putting on his clothes to sitting at the breakfast table, there is nothing he does normally. The book was tough to read simply because there was a lot of text to read, yet there wasn't very good illustrations in it. However, the author did make good use of the size of the book to focus on the boy and his adventure. I would really only use this book to teach my own kids that it is okay to think outside the box and do fun things just because they are capable of doing them.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New York Review of Books has been republishing a number of out of Children's classics. The Backward day is a bit slimmer and for a younger audience than most of their other selections but nevertheless this volume is lovely and the original illustrations are charming. I can imagine this story would be quite a hit with younger children.

[Holleah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was hilarious only because I went through an "opposite day" phase when I was younger and this book sums it up pretty well. The boy went more out of the way than I did, like sitting backward at the table, but it was still fun to think of other things he could do. I love this book.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruth Krauss is wonderful.

What I like most about this book is how the boy's parents respond to his backward day idea. They lovingly, playfully go along with it, letting the boy lead them through his experiment.

What a beautiful example of rolling with a child's imagination.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly found this book a little annoying. It's kinda like watching a time-travel thing where at a certain point it doesn't make sense. If everything is backward, then shouldn't he just sleep all day? Or should he really turn his head around and walk backward? He wouldn't walk like that forward.

[Nojood Alsudairi · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the classics. The plot is not strong but the illustrations are beautiful.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to see this as a bigger picture book.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

stupid

[Jennifer L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, silly story.

[Sharper1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. So glad we have better plots and illustrations now.

[Kristyn]

January 2014. Boys, four and two, found it hilarious.

[Mickey Reville · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a boy who one day decides to do everything backwards. You could use this book to teach diversity and how everyone is unique.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

great artwork with a silly story, beautifully bound... what more do you need?