Supposing

by Alastair Reid, JooHee Yoon, Bob Gill (Illustrator)

When you’re a kid, there are lots of things you’re not supposed to do. But what if you didn’t really do any of those things, what if you just imagined them? Then it wouldn’t matter if your supposings were silly, impossible, or even a little naughty—because they’re all just in your head. Alastair Reid’s book is a monument to the liberating power of unfettered thought. Here he reunites with a frequent collaborator, the famed illustrator and designer Bob Gill, to muse on the Supposing I read a book about how to change into animals and said a spell and changed myself into a cat and when I climbed on the book to change myself back I found I couldn’t read. . .Supposing I had a twin brother but we never told anyone and only went to school half the time each. . .Supposing a very beautiful lady fell in love with me and wanted me to marry her but I just yawned and said Maybe . . .

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Poetry

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Alastair Reid was a Scottish poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of Latin American literature. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1959 and translated works by Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges. Although he was known for translations, his own poems gained notice during his lifetime. He had lived in Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Morocco, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and in the United States.

Among his many books for children are A Balloon for a Blunderbuss, I Keep Changing, and Millionaires (all illustrated by Bob Gill), and Supposing (illustrated by Abe Birnbaum). In 2008 he published two career-spanning collections of work, Inside Out: Selected Poetry and Translations and Outside In: Selected Prose.

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having decided that The One That Got Away, though good, was for a younger audience than Claire, my soon-to-be six-year-old niece, I settled on Supposing... as one of the trilogy of books that I wound up mailing to her.

The book is not only about stimulating "unfettered thought" as the GR blurb says but is also an opportunity to discuss morals and the consequences of action. For example, what would be the consequences if you followed through on either of these two suppositions?

Supposing I collected old hair from a barber shop and sent it in parcels to people I didn't like...

or

Supposing I telephoned people I didn't know in the middle of the night and practiced my horrible sounds over the phone...

In today's hysterically paranoid atmosphere, the least that would happen is getting put on the TSA's no-fly list, and I wouldn't be surprised if your adorable little moppet didn't wind up doing a perp walk to an undisclosed detainment facility. (Can you imagine the late-night, emergency NSA meetings as our "intelligence" community tried to figure out how al Qaida had infiltrated the pre-school set?)

There are also suppositions, less creepy, that can prompt discussions about what's important and what's not, e.g.,

Supposing I had a great house with valuable paintings and furniture and things and I came home one day and it was all blazing and burned down and people came rushing up to me being sorry for me but I just laughed and took off my clothes and threw them into the fire...

And then there's just fun stuff like "What if I were bald?" or "What if I taught my dog to read?"

Overall, I liked the book and - as I am sending it to Claire - I can recommend it to parents everywhere. (Though I suppose I really should wait until my sister gets back to me about that :-)

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough cat.

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een OK boek over allerlei Stel dat situaties. Van kloons die in je huis wonen tot kunnen groot en klein worden tot varen en medailles. Ik vond het best leuk al werd het ook wel ietwat saai op een gegeven moment. Nog steeds een leuk idee hoor, en ook zeker tof dat de schrijver zoveel Stel Dat situaties kon bedenken.
De art. Tja, leuk gebruik van kleuren.. helaas vond ik de stijl niet mijn kopje thee.

[Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weird little book of imagination and improbabilities.

[Kirsten Paoline König · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zilveren Penseel 2020
geïllustreerde kinderboeken
categorie Prentenboeken

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally written in 1960, with new illustrations. A child imagines various situations from "Supposing...I collected old hair from a barber shop and sent it in parcels to people I didn't like..." to "Supposing...I had a twin brother but we never told anyone and only went to school half the time each..." Though this is catalogued as a picture book it's really for older kids who can ponder the imaginative situations and probably come up with ones of their own. Several of the "supposings" would make wonderful first sentences to a short story, such as the final one: "Supposing...I read a book about how to change myself into animals and said a spell and changed myself into a cat and when I climbed on the book to change myself back I found I couldn't read..."

[Kirsten Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Pinkwater wrote, "I want every children's book editor and also every primary school teacher and librarian in America to read this book. It is the antidote to plodding, plot-driven, two-line synopsizable, anti-imagination books." (NPR)

Magical. For those who enjoyed the kid-friendly prompts for philosophical and moral conversations, I suggest Sara Fanelli's Onion's Great Escape as a follow-up.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of creepy and kind of weird, but oddly appealing.

[Rebecca DeLucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's just the best. ty KVT

[Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a young child in the 1960's. It was a life changing experience, and was the beginning of my creativity identity. Wonderful book. Weird, too. But definitely wonderful.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 3rd grade student proclaimed this book odder than the TV show about odd things (which she said was saying a lot). This book is pleasantly outdated, and surprisingly crisp. I don't love the illustrations, which often feel awkward and brusk. At first it's unsatisfying that you don't get to see the scene played out, but then you relax and don't feel you need anything more than the question. Oddness triumphs.

I think my student Daniela totally got it:

Supposing
my mom wasn’t in my home so I did everything I wanted to
and when she got home everything was a mess and I wasn’t even there!

Supposing
I was going to grab a spoon but THEN it turned into a REAL spoon —
I mean, a talking spoon! Because I put a underwear on the spoon and then it started talking
and said, “Get that underwear off of me!”
I yelled, “Aaa!!”

Supposing
there was a bee with a sweater and it was a giant bee with a giant stinger.
And then it stung my house.

[Katja Smit · Rating 3 out of 5]

In de Engelstalige reviews noemen verschillende lezers dit boek "odd". Nou, dit boek is inderdaad odd, maar toch op een betrekkelijk brave manier. Oorspronkelijk geschreven in 1960, nu opnieuw uitgebracht met nieuwe illustraties. Het is alsof de vreemdheid van destijds tegenwoordig toch wat normaler is geworden. Of wij Nederlanders zijn misschien iets brutalers gewend dan "Stel dat ik tijdens het eten iets zei wat niet mocht en dat mijn moeder me onder tafel een schop gaf, wat ze wel eens doet, en dat ik heel hard zei: Mam, waarom geef je me een schop onder tafel?" Ik vind het idee van fantaseren erg leuk en heb ook beslist iets met de kleurige prenten. Helaas had ik desondanks niet het gevoel dat dit boek helemaal raak was.

[Uri Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read both editions of Alastair Reid's picture book Supposing, which Goodreads insists on counting as the same book.

Reid wrote the book's text back in 1960, but it wasn't published with pictures until fifty years later. Bob Gill did the illustrations for the 2010 edition, and JooHee Yoon did the illustrations for the 2022 edition. In between, Reid made some changes to the text.

I'm not sure why someone felt it necessary to redo the book, but it seems to me that both editions are reasonable.

[Esmé Boom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave illustraties, maar de tekst vond ik weinig pakkend en het boek is vreemd uitgegeven: hoge kwaliteit papier, maar lelijk lettertype dat soms tegen de achtergrond van de afbeelding slecht leesbaar is. Mijn lievelingspagina (wel 5 sterren voor de meme) is de een-na-laatste: stel dat ik in een boek las hoe je in een dier kon veranderen...

[SamSamSam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay I see what the author was trying to do here, but some of these examples are just unpleasant and vindictive. Idk about y'all but those are the thoughts that I try to counteract, rather than entertain. I did like the illustrations though. I wish this was more deadpan and harmless, like about half the examples are.

[Randy Ades · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book, clocked full imagination, humor and wit. A must read. One of the best children's books, I have ever read.

[Rogue Male · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky

[Annese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, all over the place... and exactly how my brain functions. Interesting read!

[Maeghan Nutmeg Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the weird-on-purpose art and thought the text was hysterical. I laughed out loud a few times.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully weird, especially paired with JooHee Yoon's illustrations.

[She Reads Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supposing...

[Miriam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the art - we are now huge fans of JooHee Yoon!. 3 stars for the quirky story - run on sentences with great child logic, but also sometimes just, well, mean?

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find an original copy for the premium illustrations. This newer version is less great, but the book is a gem.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. Thoughts we've all had, along the lines of A Christmas Story's Ralphie daydreaming about coming home blind because of soap poisoning. It would serve those parents right. My favorite was the boy wondering what if he read a spell that turned him into a cat, but then as a cat, he couldn't read the spell to turn him back? (That's where the cover picture comes from) These would actually work really well as short story prompts for kids, too.

[Shannon Kitchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like books that make kids think and challenge their imaginations. Well, this certainly does that but it's just bizarre! I kept thinking, "What?!!!" The whole thing about collecting boxes of hair really got to me.

[Chris Callaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical and funny, complemented by wonderful simple sketches and color. You will like this as much as your kids do--maybe more.

[Dex · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is pretty strange, but I liked it.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

So creepy, but so neat. None of my kids had any opinion on this book, so I'm not sure of its impact on 2nd or 3rd graders, but I thought it was worth pondering.