Do You Know What I'm Going to Do Next Saturday?

by Helen Marion Palmer, Lynn Fayman (Photographer)

A boy recounts his plans for the following Saturday, which involves a lot of eating and doing everything he wants to do, including things no one else has done, like eating ten miles of spaghetti and having the Marines put on a parade for him.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 23, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American actress and author and the wife of children's book writer Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). Her most well known book is Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?, published in 1963. This book, along with two others — I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo (1962) and Why I Built the Boogle House (1964) — combined Ms. Palmer's stories with photographs by Lynn Fayman. The photographs in I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo were taken at the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, and featured children from the Francis Parker School in San Diego interacting with the zoo's animals and staff.

Palmer also expanded Dr. Seuss's short story Gustav the Goldfish into the book A Fish Out Of Water, which was illustrated by P.D. Eastman.

Palmer met her future husband at Oxford University. She had a profound influence on his life, including suggesting that he should be an artist rather than a professor. They married in 1926 and had no children together. She committed suicide in 1967, after a series of illnesses (including cancer) spanning 13 years. (wikipedia)

Reviews

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Saturday consists of mostly eating (because you have to keep eating if you want to keep going.) But in between the eating this small boy manages to go water skiing, flying in a jet and helicopter, beat five children at tennis at once and then their fathers, followed by playing with the United States Marines. my favorite part in the book is this precocious boy meeting the Marines. Here's a snippet and now remember this was published in 1963.

"Shooting! I'll go shooting with the United States Marines. Little guns! Big guns! I'll shoot every gun that they shoot. The Marines will like my shooting. And they are going to like me."


This would probably sound horribly politically incorrect now and may not even read amusing without the visuals which over emphasis and dramatize a child's craziest dreams. But I found this small book highly entertaining.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child. I think the old fasioned looking pictures appealed to me. (For me, when I read them they would have been about 30 years old). Also, all of the fun things he did interested me, or at least amused me. I remember liking the idea of him being thrown over the cliff in a can, and playing on the ropes that were really high up. I also loved all the mentions of all the food he was going to eat throughout the day. Yum! I think I sense a running theme in my favourite childrens books...hmm...

[Cyndy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book so many times when I was young. I wish I could find our old copy of it - it's probably in the attic of my parents' house. The pictures of the boy eating all that spaghetti and pancakes was fascinating to me. I always wondered how he could eat so much!

[Dulce German]

This book is about a kid explaining all the different things he will be doing on Saturday. From eating ice cream to flying a helicopter. The text in the book is repeating, staring the same way on each page. The illustrations are different than any other kid’s book it is a printout of other people and from the real world. I like how the book shows that the kid is thinking as big as he can with all the things he wants to do. We can use this book to read on a Friday as an activity to have students write about what they will be doing on Saturday and let their minds wander.

[Gore · Rating 3 out of 5]

While in a Dr. Seuss craze, I suddenly remembered his first wife and felt somber. I think this is the first book I read of hers and while I don't think it holds a candle up as high, I do find myself enjoying it. I thoroughly enjoy children's imaginations and the high expectation they put on themselves. It scarcely reminded me of my own childhood when I looked forward to the weekend to have the fun and adventure that school would not allow me to explore.

[Mariah · Rating 1 out of 5]

OH MY GOD THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX GOES SO HARD IN THIS.