مثل خودم

by Marie Hall Ets, سیروس طاهباز (مترجم)

پسر کوچولو بعد از اینکه پرنده کوچکی را از دست گربه فرار می‌دهد، سعی می‌کند مثل گربه راه برود. پس از آن، سعی می‌کند مثل خروس و خرگوش و غاز و … راه برود

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Classics, Animals, Fiction, 2nd Grade, 1st Grade

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Marie Hall Ets was an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. She attended Lawrence College, and in 1918, Ets journeyed to Chicago where she became a social worker at the Chicago Commons, a settlement house on the northwest side of the city.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 2 out of 5]

A repetitive story in the fact that this is the same thing over and over with different animals. It bored me. The artwork was lovely, but nothing really special either. I think it was a kind of woodcut printed out. Basically, a young boy finds a different animal each page and tries to imitate how it walks or acts for a page until the end when he runs like ‘just me’. This is for young beginning children.

All of us were ready for this to end. The 5 year old thought this was boring and he is old enough to laugh at the boy for being so silly. It wasn’t too long ago the nephew was this little boy. He gave it 1 star. So much bores him now. The niece wasn’t happy with this book either. She said it was for babies and she gave this 1 star too.

This book did not fit our family today. Shame as it took so much work to get the book in our hands. Still, I agree with them.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie Hall Ets understands what works in a picture book for very young readers - animals, repetition, and a happy ending. In this one, a little boy imitates all the animals he meets on the farm, showing how he can run like a goose, butt like a goat, and hide in his shell like a turtle. When his father comes to get him, though, he realizes that with Dad, he only needs to be himself. The most impressive thing about the illustrations is the way the boy’s human movements so closely echo those of his animal friends without causing him to look like an animal or the animals to look more human. My favorites are hiding in the turtle shell and taking a bath-and-nap beside the pig.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The black & white prints (linocuts?) are remarkable, where the little boy mimics the animals around his farm home until his father is departing by boat and he runs like only he can. The exploration of the everyday lives of these animals by the boy models and encourages a curiosity, playfulness and interaction with the natural world that young children badly need (not to mention all of us who have run short on these qualities). I think reading this book with a young child and then heading outside would be a wonderful experience. Unlike some books from this period that just seem dated, this one has just mellowed with age and is still a gem.

[Adrienne Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a subtle picture book with woodblock prints of bucolic vignettes. A boy wanders around a farm and its surrounding nature meeting animals along the way and mimicking their gaits and habits. The postures and facial expressions evoke surprise and joy in a way that is difficult in any medium, particularly in one where taking even a little more material away to create more white space is a permanent choice that can’t be reversed; this is particularly difficult around the eyes and mouth, where a lot of meaning resides. A great example of restraint in the illustrations, which end up conveying more meaning than the words.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many of these old picture books have aged in an unreadable way. This one has old style wood-cut style art. And relatively repetitive un-imaginative text. But the idea is a good one. Child tries to walk like and talk to the animals who sees. And there is a very mild twist at the end. This captures a time and a place where a child might be on there own presumably on a farm. Nice enough. 3.5 of 5

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very ‘60s. Great woodcut illustrations!

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assignment: Picture Book Project
Category: Choice
Recommending Source: 1966 Caldecott Honor Book

Review: On a farm, a little boy visits with many farm animals and pretends to be just like them. He encounters a cat, chicken, pig, squirrel, frog, goat, and many other animals. With each visit, he tries his best to mimic the movement of each animal. Once he reaches the pond, he spots his father and wants to join him as he enters the boat. This time, he doesn't act like any other animal, instead he runs as himself to meet his dad and enjoy their time on the boat.

This was a very cute and sweet book. I liked how the story described the boy’s encounters with each animal on the farm. The actions performed by the boy demonstrate how many young boys typically behave around this age. I have a very active four year old son, and I can see him finding enjoyment in doing these same actions, especially if we were visiting a farm. It would be entertaining to watch and fun to participate!

The centered, oval picture on the front cover of the book takes up nearly the entire space. It looks like a hand-drawn sketch with only the use of black and white colors. The title of the book is above the drawing and labeled in all capital letters. The background color on the cover page is a mix of deep orange and salmon. It makes the white text on the page and black and white sketch pop out. When you first open the book, the end paper simply states the title again in smaller text in the same color of the front cover. The title page has another sketch in the middle of the page showing the little boy about to touch a bird. The text above the sketch is the same size as the text on the front cover and the same deep orange and salmon color is used. The colors of are utilized throughout the book with the deep orange and salmon used for the text, black to depict the details, and white used as the main color of the boy, the animals, and objects drawn in each frame. Marie Hall Ets’ detailed drawings compliment the story and the frames add action to each page.

This book would be fun to use in a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classroom. It could be used in a mini-lesson about farm animals. The students could draw from their prior knowledge to list animals that they are familiar with and then begin to think about which animals live on a farm. The teacher could show pictures of these animals, talk about their features, include the sounds they make, and then engage the students to act out the movements of these animals and actions of these animals. I think the book presents a great opportunity for the students to be able to be just like the boy in the story and pretend to be animals, too.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

1966 Caldecott Honor

The black and white illustrations weren't attractive at all, but I was thrilled to find another Caldecott that I could do YOGA to! With all of the animals, the dad, and the boat, there are so many yoga poses in this one little story. This is a picture book that's perfect for my preschool yoga story time where we could just read it and focus on the poses and not the pictures.

[Josianne Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discovered this book when weeding the picture book collection. It earned a Caldecott Honor in 1966 and was purchased by this library in 1993. Will be keeping this in a special Caldecott display collection.

The illustrations are black and white block prints. The font, a Times look alike, is red. It's interesting to see how color and layout have changed since then.

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody here but us chickens.

It's not a bad book, given the age. It's rather simplistic and repetitive. The art is not impressive.

A little boy who looks maybe about 4 or 5 is looking at different animals and trying to physically imitate their behaviors. He tries to walk like a rooster, or hop like a rabbit. Every time you turn the page, it's another animal that he's trying to imitate. At the end, he ends up going through a corn field and he sees his father in the pond in a boat, and runs "Like nobody else at all. Just me." Meh. I guess it's cute, but there's really nothing to it. It's pretty dull.

Message: You can imitate various animals.

For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn't a fan of this book. Just as a series of annoying encounters with different farm animals and how the one little boy wants to walk around just like them, but in the end, he walks like a boy. Okay. Just Me was definitely geared toward really young children. I've been working my way through all the Caldecott books and it's striking how much they are different. I mean they cater to preschool children up to maybe fourth grade (some are very advanced). It just seems like a very wide range that doesn't always seem like they should be in the same group winning the same prize. There's a huge difference between this kind of book and one she did later about how Christmas is celebrated in Mexico. My rating - 1/5

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

_Just Me_ by Marie Hall Ets is a Caldecott honor book from the year 1966. This is a simply written tale of a young boy has he goes through his day moving like the animals he sees. This could be fun to do as a large group activity with preschool and early elementary school aged children. As the boy meets new animals and begins to move like them, the class could also demonstrate how to move like the animal. The artwork on each single page spread shows the young boy, first, as he first encounters the new animals, followed on the next page, as he begins to move like the animal moves. The artwork is located in a circular area on each page, surrounded by white space and two lines of the text in a red print. The confined illustrations only show one scene each only indicating the important part of the text, being finding the new animal and then moving as it does. This could be a very fun activity book to do as a class as well as a class discussion on how animals and humans all move in different ways.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

• 1966 Caldecott Honor Book •

This is a cute story - a little boy imitates different animals he sees, but finds the best thing is to be “just me”. I like this book but it’s all black and white illustrations, and I really wish there had been some color besides the brown type and brown book cover (really, brown? for a children’s book?).

Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series of black and white pen and ink or possibly woodblock drawings, accompanying a sweet story, from 1965, by Marie Hall Ets, about a curious little boy who imitates all the animals around him, the way they walk or run. It is told charmingly in the first person. It reminds me of my early modern dance training where we extracted the main qualities of animals and things around us, and 'became' those things. At the end, the little boy becomes "just me," and joins his dad in a rowboat adventure. To me, it reflects the charm of little children who inhabit a fantasy world, or the world of nature, but can instantly switch back to themselves when required.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that would garner a lot of interaction from children. Maybe not sit down interaction, but certainly stand up and move around interaction.

The illustrations are all black and white, but tell the story well with plenty of detail. A little boy pretends to walk like all the animals on the farm.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repetition and funny antics by a young boy will elicit a lot of laughter from young readers, or when reading aloud to preschool-aged children. A young boy who lives on a farm visits various animals and asks each to move along so he can imitate them. For instance, he hops along with a rabbit and climbs a fence like a squirrel. It's an old 1965 book I found at the used bookstore where I volunteer. It's a non-profit entirely run by volunteers and dependent on nearly all donated books. Older books like this one aren't always as flashy as newer publications, but the storylines still please!

[Liliana Carrizales · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is in realistic fiction because it is made up of events and what children do when they like what its happening they mimic animals, sounds, and family. Growing up the children learn this way.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect the artist's decision to always show the little boy from the back to avoid ever having to draw a human face, because, based on the animal faces, that mighta been terrifying.

The squirrel is GREAT though

[Talea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute little book with charming old fashioned illustrations. The innocence of the main character was sweet and my daughter enjoyed acting out some of the scenes.

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect pre-schooler book.

[drowningmermaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like you're supposed to enact this book while reading it, but there aren't many cues. Cute look at different animal personalities. Feels a tad dated.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book about imitation. Could be a little less wordy, but I think most kids can get into it. The illustrations aren't so fascinating that all children will be engaged though.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Caldecott Honor Book 1966***

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldecott Honor - 1966
Art medium used - black line and paper batik

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book with lovely illustrations. Age appropriate text and repetition for young readers.

[MaryAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple story of a young boy who demonstrates he can imitate animals (except he can’t fly like a bird). Illustrations in black and white. Looks like woodcuts.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet old fashioned book. Love it.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy tries imitating various animals' behavior but finds he likes just being himself best. I like the story but it is a bit too long. The illustrations are great.

[Moesha Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of the book was in a cornfield where a young boy lived with many animals and reptiles in his barn. The young boy saw the different abilities that these animals and reptiles had and mimicked what they would do. He would try to hop like a rabbit and slither like a snake because he liked all the different ways these animals and reptiles got around. The book also had great illustrations in black and white that showed each animal and their abilities along with the little boy mimicking them. The picture also seemed as if they were old or trying to show that this book took place in an earlier time.

The plot of the book explained how the young boy could not fly like a bird, but he was still able to have the same abilities that other animals had such as walking like a dog and hopping like a frog. The young boy was eager to show that he could have so of the same abilities like to other animals and reptiles, but not the bird. The book was very repetitive to show that the young boy was determined to show he could have other abilities than flying.

[Karly Winters · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ets, Marie Hall. Just Me. New York: Viking, 1965. Print.
This is an award winning book of the Caldecott Award about a little boy who tries to imitate animals and do the actions they do from birds to cows to pigs and to turtle before deciding that he just wants to be himself. This is an easy read that can help kids remember animals, but the pictures are small and all black and white. This would probably be more set towards bedtime stories or soothing kids. It’s not an exciting book, but the message is still nice, important to learn at a young age. The lesson that can be taken from this book is that you should be happy with who you are because you are who you are and that won’t change.