That's Good! That's Bad! In Washington, DC

That's Good! That's Bad!

by Margery Cuyler, Michael Garland (Illustrator)

It's class trip time and a little boy and his friends are visiting Washington, DC. But this little boy has trouble keeping his feet on the ground. A series of mishaps―sometimes good and sometimes bad―sweep him from the White House and Lincoln Memorial to the National Zoo and many other national landmarks. Adventures abound in this wild tour through Washington, D.C. Children will enjoy this exciting and funny introduction to our nation's capital city.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 2007

About the author

Margery Cuyler is the author of many books for children, including From Here to There, The Little Dump Truck, and That’s Good! That’s Bad! The idea for That’s Good! That’s Bad! was inspired by a conversation with her son, Thomas, who asked, "Can't bad things change into good things?" Ms. Cuyler grew up in the oldest house in Princeton, NJ, and started writing stories as soon as she learned how to write. She now lives in the same house with her husband, sons and two cats.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marger...

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me a few reads to even get the tag line, "That's bad. No, that's good" or whatever. If you're looking for a good DC kids book, this isn't the one. On one page it looks like the kid fell out of the Washington Monument when he just fell down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A field trip to Washington, DC finds a young boy experiencing a series of mishaps, with both good and bad outcomes while seeing the sights.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s like someone wrote a teacher’s or parent’s nightmare about a field trip. Made me cringe.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was something my husband thought might help our kids to think about how it’s not always clear what the consequences of things are, good or bad. It was okay.

[Ashley Moser · Rating 2 out of 5]

The flow of this book is terrible. I really didn’t get it. I liked how it showed different parts of DC and the map at the end.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book we've read in the That's Good! That's Bad! series by Margery Cuyler. The first book was so inventive and humorous, but was awkward to read aloud.

I decided to read this one because of the setting in Washington D.C. Our girls are familiar with all of the sites mentioned, and it was fun to see the story progress through the city. We especially liked tracing his path on the map in the back of the book.

Our girls are so much older now, and they got the concept of the repetitive refrain, but it still made for an awkward read aloud. I felt like I needed to add extra words to the narrative, "Why is that good?" or "Why is that bad?" just to keep the flow of the book going smoothly.

The illustrations are terrific and we liked looking at the famous sites. The part where the boy falls down the steps of the Lincoln memorial while looking at the Washington Monument is a bit odd, since the two are too far away for such an up close picture - I had to go back a couple of times to make sure I didn't miss something. Still, it was a fun tour of the city.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of school children go to Washington DC on a field trip. One of the boys accidently gets separated from the group. The crazy and wild things the author has him doing in my opinion was a bit much and thus why I only gave this book 3 stars. I think they could have done much better and used this as an opportunity to teach children that have never seen DC about the various things they did include in the story. Some of the things-places that were mentioned in this book I didn't even know what was as I read this to my granddaughter. I was disappointed. But on the other hand it was funny at times. just a bit much.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a fun book to read before heading to washington D.C. It repeats That's Good, That's bad flipping them around every other page. The character seems to find bad luck but be good enough to end up where he should. It is a funny read with fabulous illustrations.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's picture book that let's you see the good and the bad in things while taking you on a tour of great places in Washington, DC!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third book in the