Why?

26 Fairmount Avenue #7

by Tomie dePaola

This title has been removed from sale by Penguin Group, USA.

Genres: Memoir, Childrens, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Picture Books, World War II

Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poignant view of 1942 from young Tomie's perspective, as rationing begins to affect his daily life. I loved the portion where he helped out his grandparents at their grocery store, just before rationing hit. I don't think I'd ever considered how strange the holidays in 1941 must have felt, with the Pearl Harbor attack and the US's entry into the war coming in the middle of the season. dePaola explores it from his second-grade-self's experience, maintaining his gentle humor and family closeness while showing how wide and strange his world became.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomie's recollections are so fresh and detailed they could have happened yesterday. Includes black and white illustrations in Depaola's signature style.

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks for picking this up for me from MoCo’s library system, Liz! Continuing the story of early American WWII involvement from the POV of a 2nd grader in Connecticut.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this installment because it focuses on a global crisis at a child level. The everyday events (school troubles, losing a first tooth, and the Valentine and Easter holidays) are deftly contrasted with the struggle of a young boy to hear and understand the talk of war around him. And ultimately, even Tomie can't be shielded from everything. His cousin is shot down and killed and the war touches even the youngest and most innocent.

[Michelle Heinrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

FTR, I have been reading and reviewing children’s books - lots of them - but I am choosing longer ones to review here and count toward my goal.

Most Tomie de Paolo books are fun and, if not precisely happy, at least rather positive. “Why?” is a different book for him on many counts. First off, it is a chapter book, not a picture book. Second, it is about a rather heavy topic: World War Two.

“Why?” Is a slice of life story about the author when he’s in second grade. It’s 1942 and the war is just beginning. A young Tomie writes (and illustrates) in his diary, telling bits and pieces of his daily life. Some of it is funny and light, such as his experiences around losing his first tooth. Some of it feels quaint and foreign, for example his struggles with penmanship and his trip to a huge department stores. And much of it is about the war.

Perhaps this is a spoiler, but I will say that, if one is approaching this as a book for kids (which I am not sure that it is, entirely), there is a sad and triggering event, a death. And, while it’s an excellent window into life in the early war years - something kids would know nothing about - it does not have a simple and satisfying ending. The language and cadences are totally aimed for children, but the book might work best on an adult level. I really felt his age, his perspective, and his nostalgia. It made me teary in a good way.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously unimpressive.
The text in this installment of the author's pseudo memoirs of the war years is even scantier and scrappier than the previous volume. Several pages contained only a "diary entry" on "lined paper" with few words and a few doodle like drawings. Very Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Very already been done, more successfully, by someone else. His teacher would have failed him for copying.

It starts out with an unnecessary recap (cut and paste) of I'm Still Scared: A 26 Fairmount Avenue Book) .

It's like Di Paola wrote a real book of reasonable length and then someone decided to chop it into little pieces in hopes of making more money that way. Therefore the repetition from the previous book and the single-entry pages, to bulk out the text. I'm glad these aren't my books I'm using as read-alouds. To top things off, the ending was very sad, and also chopped off short. The kid I read it with hated it--sad, and also leaving us hanging!! You should have heard her yell of disappointment and disbelief. "That's ALL??"

[KieraK · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one got to me and was super sad in the end so if you have a sensitive child about death be aware. The next in the series picks up with this tragedy so I'm interested to see how it's handled. But a kid's perspective to WW2 in American is work reading.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Tomie is still so positive about things in life, even when he struggles with fear and confusion over what is going on in the world. And I also love how his family sticks together, wish we had more of that family core today.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice blend of stories about normal happenings and things that changed from the war. Such sweet stories but he doesn’t try to cover up all the things that made him scared or sad as a child. He captures that childhood voice really well.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for our family summer reading program...krb 6/12/18

[Jack O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Tomie dePaola wrote this book because he wanted to write down his life. My favorite part of the book was all the details he gave. - Jack age 9

[Chance Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so sweet, even with the horrors of war looming so close. It makes the inevitable tragedy of the ending that much harder to bear. And I really hated it when his teacher was mean to him!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let the boy write however he wants. Yeesh!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this memoir series. Here dePaola recounts going to school and life in general during WWII. He expresses his interest in art over arithmetic. Fun illustrations and diary entries.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the seventh book in the series. It is dedicated "For all the families in the world who lost loved ones in those first days of WWII."

It begins on New Year's Day, 1942, and ends April 29, 1942. Tomie describes his parents' New Year's Eve party in great detail. A few days later, he got to go to the Armour meatpacking place with his dad and brother to run an errand for his grandfather. Tomie writes in detail about helping his grandfather at the store on the weekends. What a great experience to have as a child, as a family. He refers to the chicken feet story that he wrote about in his picture book, "Tom." Working is a great antidote to fear.

When school began again after Christmas break, Tomie and his brother had to dress more warmly for school since coal was being rationed. At breakfast he shared a story that my own father just shared with us at our family dinner last week: "And look--a surprise for the first day of school of the New Year!" Mom was holding a bottle of milk. The cream on top had frozen and pushed up the cap." (p. 27)

The windows at school were criss-crossed with tape as a precaution against flying glass in case of bombing. They also had an air raid drill on that first day back to school. Some of the kids started to cry.

After lunch, Tomie had his first Palmer Method penmanship class with ink. "I looked around the room. Some of the kids were doing just fine. The "lefties," kids who used their left hands, were having an even harder time than I was.
I kept hoping we'd have another air raid drill." (p. 37)
Tomie hated penmanship!

His family hosted a party for his cousin Blackie and all of his family from the Bronx because Blackie was on his way to the war in Europe. "Blackie is a Belly Gunner. "I'm short," he said, "so I fit easily into the bubble under the bomber. That's why they call us the Belly Gunners." (As soon as I read this, I started to cry with fear for him.)

Tomie continued to love his art classes with Mrs. Bowers at school. (I also love how, in spite of great disappointment, Tomie's mother backs up his teachers at home.)

In addition to rationing, Tomie writes about shortages and hoarding. One day, at George's Confectionary Store, Tomie and his brother read this sign, "Because of the war, there will be no more Fleer's Double Bubble Bubble Gum for sale. George." (p. 63) Mrs. George "told us that it had something to do with the "Japanese and rubber." (p. 64) Coal, sugar, gum, butter, meat, canned goods, tires, gasoline, heating oil and leather shoes. All rationed. Something I've never officially experienced.

Tomie's family celebrated his sister Maureen's second birthday, and he writes about shopping for new Easter outfits. His family had another party, since one never knows what will happen next, and Tomie FINALLY loses his first baby tooth!

A couple of weeks later, they receive the devastating news that Blackie was dead. His plane had been shot down. Tomie wrote, "I began to wonder, Why?
Why was there a war anyway?
Why did the war make everything different when it was so far away?
Why did Uncle Charles have to go and be a soldier?
Why did Blackie's plane get shot down?
Why was my cousin Blackie, my cousin Anthony, who gave me a Hawaiian guitar and a hula skirt and who carried me on his back and listened to every new song I learned--why was Blackie dead?
WHY?" (p. 85-87)

I read this aloud to Emma, choked up with tears. This is the power of literature and storytelling.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The year 1942 has begun, and the United States has been officially involved in the second World War for a month. Life at home continues for Young Tomie dePaola and his family, though, as they do their best to adjust to the imminent idea of supply rationing in deference to the war effort. Young Tomie's Uncle Charles and cousin Blackie are making even bigger sacrifices, entering the war action themselves overseas.

Young Tomie is frequently misunderstood at school because of his talkative nature and artistic mind, so he flits in and out of minor trouble with his teachers as the school year continues. This struggle is a theme behind all of the books in the 26 Fairmount Avenue series, as Young Tomie does his best to strike a tenable balance between self-expression and having patience with the different ways of the majority of his peers.

Why? is a good story with some sadness at the end as the sobering reality of the war hits home in a tangible way for the dePaola family. The title of this book seems appropriate, since it ends with a series of questions that Young Tomie has about why the war has to happen, and why good people have to leave their families and sometimes even die on the other side of the ocean.

As with the preceding book in the series, I'm Still Scared, this book adopts a more series tone than the first five 26 Fairmount Avenue volumes. This isn't at all a bad thing, though I do sort of miss the creative fun times that Young Tomie had in the earlier books. Overall, I might give two and a half stars to Why?.

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning with a recount of the prior evening's festivities, New Year's Eve Day, 1942, Tomie takes us again, to his childhood in Meriden. With love and a memory toward specifics, Tomie spends the day at his grandparents' store in Wallingford, going with the men to purchase meats and also placing hand-written signs in the store. He makes the signs because his penmanship is very good. When I was learning to write, there was an emphasis on proper letter formation and neatness, too. I like that. The stories are fun...shopping for Easter outfits, losing his first tooth, etc.

The ending is upsetting. Blackie's plane has been shot down. Blackie is dead. Tomie tells this part of the story with true childhood innocence and confusion. He asks, WHY?...why is there war...why does war make everything different...why was his uncle a soldier...why did Blackie's plane get shot down...He asks the questions that we all ask, no matter how old we are. This book is helpful and honest. I can see that reading it would be helpful to a youngster experiencing a loss, regardless of the cause. This book recognizes the many questions we all have about war, loss, and death. I think this book also gently reminds us that there is not a clear answer to all questions.

[Ms. McCall]

I expected great things from 26 Fairmont Avenue because of my lingering fond memories of Strega Nona and The Art Lesson, but as a chapter book, this biographical recollection fell short. While I respect DePaola for entering the intermediate reader world and trying to ease a reader into the biography category without the overburden of dense, factual information, but unfortunately DePaola’s style comes off as a chronologically confusing rant about his childhood. The black and white pencil sketches scattered throughout are sweetly expressive and displayed differently from page to page (in several cases, bordering the text in unique ways like on page 43 where the grass of the front yard trickles down the sides of the page).

[Joseph Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book talks about a young boy named Tomie as it relates to Tomie DePaola as a child who is going through some rough times as a child during the World War II years. During the war, young Tomie goes through some life-changing events in his young childhood life. He had to wear extra sweaters because there wasn't enough coal to preserve heat to keep him and his family warm. When tragedy strikes, young Tomie asks himself Why? as the war continued on throughout the whole story. I thought this book was interesting because it talks about Tomie putting characters together to tell a story about their life. I would definitely recommend this book to third or fourth graders so they can get a hard glimpse as to what emotions were felt during World War II.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

CIP: none.
Summary: Tomie de Paolo's continuing autobiography, with this part covering how World War II affects him and his family in Connecticut.

Review: Interesting illustrations and format, plus an easy to read vocabulary and style make this a good autobiography about a favorite author. However, it lacks depth and character development.

Kirkus, starred review - "brilliant, utterly charming and believable"
SLJ says "those looking for a child's view of the Second World War will want to read this."

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After New Year's, Tomie notices that things start to change. He has to wear extra clothes to school because they are using less coal. Gum isn't sold anymore. And at the very end of the book, tragedy strikes.

I've lived through two wars now and never had anything rationed. Interesting how things change.

This book is every bit as interesting as the first book. I love how dePaola keeps his energy in writing up. Excellent book.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

We listened to Tomie dePaola present this book, which is his autobiography. He was quite endearing, and we love his picture books, so we liked listening to it in that respect. But because it's a beginning chapter book, the sentences are short and can be a little painful for adults to listen to. :)

After listening to this, we had to find the REAL version of Snow White at the library, the one with a poisoned comb and bodice laces pulled too tightly. :)

[Jessica Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks into the child's mind during war. This book is based during World War II from the eyes of a child named Tomie. When he has a lot of changes in his life all he can do is ask "why" is this all happening. This book is very in touch and real as to what children think when families must adjust to the economy. Of course this is drastic measures of change, but its still from the child's perspective which I enjoyed about the book.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why? deals with more details of the war, including the conservation of coal in Tomie’s school, which requires the wearing of coats indoors, as well as Tomie’s hatred of learning penmanship, and his love for his cousin Blackie. The title refers to Tomie’s feelings of bewilderment after experiencing a loss to the war, so this book is a bit more emotional than some of the others and might be upsetting to more sensitive readers.

[Children's Literature Project · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guided Reading Level N.

Tomie dePaola talks about his life on 26 Fairmount Ave during World War II. He struggles in school with arithmetic and penmanship. He learns about rationing and the draft. At the end of the book, tragedy strikes in his family.

This book is great for 3rd and 4th grade and for discussing how life was during WWII.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

7th in a series which we are reading. We prepared for the sad stuff ahead of time. (They get news that his cousin died in the last chapter.) Despite that big sadness the book is still appropriate even for my pretty sensitive 9 year old girl.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that he wrote these books, documenting what it was like to live through World War II as a child in the USA. And I love that he wrote them for children to read so that my kids can read and learn about it.

[Cws]

JAR4-DeP

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very powerful take on war from a child's perspective.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised the book just stopped the way it did. Just thought there would be a lot more to the story...maybe there's a sequel???