Step On It, Andrew

by Barbara Shook Hazen, Lisl Weil (Illustrator)

Andrew's mother is in a hurry and asks him to step on it, which he does, with interesting results.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Capn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew takes it literally when his mom shouts, "Step on it, Andrew!" while hurrying to the Super Mart before closing. A chain of events unfolds (one was already in motion due to political red-tape), and in the end, because Andrew stamped in a mud puddle, he's lauded as a hero at a banquet in his honour.

Weird story - you get to see everyone, "except the stalwart sanitation workers", in their respective bathtubs or showers.

It's so nicely odd, I had to give it a high rating. One feature that annoyed was the attribution of the exclamations. For example, instead of, "I'm running behind," said Mother. "I'm running behind you," said Andrew, it's:

Mother: I'm running behind.
Andrew: I'm running behind you.

It makes it hard to read, and because much of the dialogue is in orange, it blends right in to the background (for me, anyway) and I accidentally skipped over several exclamations.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went to the archives (aka Andrew's bookshelves) to finish this year's book challenge... adorable book from 1980 about a little boy just following mom's instructions.