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Junior Kroll
In triumph and disaster, Junior Kroll has a comical way of altering the course of events. He plays in a kazoo quartet, frees the dinner party lobsters, steals one neighbor’s roses as a present for another, and decorates Grandfather’s birthday cake with “little chocolate flies.” Michael Paraskevas’s zany illustrations bring these offbeat, bittersweet poems to life.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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April 30, 2020
Long, long ago, my husband ran the campus bookstore at a large, state-run university. In addition to the requisite textbook area, there was also a big trade book section filled with fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. Members of the surrounding community were welcome to come browse at the store, AND, at the independent bookstore downtown. (These were golden days, kiddies. Golden Days!) After spying this book in a catalog, my husband placed an order for six copies, and one free cardboard advertising sign. There was a mix-up, and he received instead, ONE book, and SIX cardboard signs featuring the little Kroll's likeness. For a few happy months the signs stood in a row on my husband's desk, and quickly became known as "The Kroll Patrol." And, needless to say - he bought the book.
I'm so glad he did, as it is adorable!
Junior Kroll, with his bowl-cut hairdo, and fancy suit, manages to get into some Dennis the Menace-like scrapes, but he's got a heart of gold when the chips are down. I was particularly touched by his interactions with his elderly relatives and neighbors. Example : Every day he rides his bike past an older lady who sits on her porch. He sticks out his tongue, she shakes her cane at him. Then one day he notices she's missing. When her butler tells Junior that the old gal's been sick, our pint-sized hero pays her a visit bearing a rose he's plucked from a neighbor's yard. The two become pals, and when she is well again, they resume their tongue-sticking-out/cane-shaking routine . . . except on Fridays when they share tea and biscuits on her porch. Awwww!
There are fifteen little tales about Junior, all told in rhyme by Betty, and wonderfully illustrated by her son Michael.
Junior Kroll decorates a cake for his grandfather's birthday.
Being a dog lover, my favorite poem concerned Junior's devoted pet:
Crazy Max, the Kroll's Great Dane
Was a time-bomb ticking on the end of a chain.
He chewed the drapes, he ate the flowers.
He dug up the lawn, he barked for hours.
They packed his shoe and sent him away
To Fido U. He was back the next day
With a note that read, "Beyond Control."
He'd only answer to Junior Kroll.
Every day Junior walked Max to town.
When they got to the bakery Max sat down;
He wouldn't budge, he'd sit and wait
For his jelly donut on a paper plate.
Yes, as bad as he was, the Kroll's Great Dane
Loved the little boy on the end of his chain.
Sniff, sniff, and awwww, again.
This one's a little text-heavy for younger tykes - maybe reading one poem a night would be best, but do, DO introduce your kiddos to Kroll.
And, now if you'll excuse me - I'm going to go sit, and get all melancholy thinking about how there used to be bookstores.
I'm so glad he did, as it is adorable!
Junior Kroll, with his bowl-cut hairdo, and fancy suit, manages to get into some Dennis the Menace-like scrapes, but he's got a heart of gold when the chips are down. I was particularly touched by his interactions with his elderly relatives and neighbors. Example : Every day he rides his bike past an older lady who sits on her porch. He sticks out his tongue, she shakes her cane at him. Then one day he notices she's missing. When her butler tells Junior that the old gal's been sick, our pint-sized hero pays her a visit bearing a rose he's plucked from a neighbor's yard. The two become pals, and when she is well again, they resume their tongue-sticking-out/cane-shaking routine . . . except on Fridays when they share tea and biscuits on her porch. Awwww!
There are fifteen little tales about Junior, all told in rhyme by Betty, and wonderfully illustrated by her son Michael.
Junior Kroll decorates a cake for his grandfather's birthday.
Being a dog lover, my favorite poem concerned Junior's devoted pet:
Crazy Max, the Kroll's Great Dane
Was a time-bomb ticking on the end of a chain.
He chewed the drapes, he ate the flowers.
He dug up the lawn, he barked for hours.
They packed his shoe and sent him away
To Fido U. He was back the next day
With a note that read, "Beyond Control."
He'd only answer to Junior Kroll.
Every day Junior walked Max to town.
When they got to the bakery Max sat down;
He wouldn't budge, he'd sit and wait
For his jelly donut on a paper plate.
Yes, as bad as he was, the Kroll's Great Dane
Loved the little boy on the end of his chain.
Sniff, sniff, and awwww, again.
This one's a little text-heavy for younger tykes - maybe reading one poem a night would be best, but do, DO introduce your kiddos to Kroll.
And, now if you'll excuse me - I'm going to go sit, and get all melancholy thinking about how there used to be bookstores.
Displaying 1 of 1 review