Didn't Didn't Do It

by Bradford Morrow, Gahan Wilson (Illustrator)

Building a tree house has never seemed so impossible. Maybe the instructions are too complicated, maybe it’s because no one can agree or maybe everyone is just plain clumsy; whatever the reason, Didn’t and his friends can’t seem to get anything right. And when they finally start making progress, they’re in for a colorful surprise that might change their minds about the whole project!

Bradford Morrow’s nimble wordplay and Gahan Wilson’s giddy illustrations give readers a colorful look at teamwork gone wrong and new friendship prevailing.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2007

About the author

Bradford Morrow has lived for the past thirty years in New York City and rural upstate New York, though he grew up in Colorado and lived and worked in a variety of places in between. While in his mid-teens, he traveled through rural Honduras as a member of the Amigos de las Americas program, serving as a medical volunteer in the summer of 1967. The following year he was awarded an American Field Service scholarship to finish his last year of high school as a foreign exchange student at a Liceo Scientifico in Cuneo, Italy. In 1973, he took time off from studying at the University of Colorado to live in Paris for a year. After doing graduate work on a Danforth Fellowship at Yale University, he moved to Santa Barbara, California, to work as a rare book dealer. In 1981 he relocated to New York City to the literary journal Conjunctions, which he founded with the poet Kenneth Rexroth, and to write novels. He and his two cats divide their time between NYC and upstate New York.

Visit his website at www.bradfordmorrow.com.

Reviews

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, it took a couple of readings for me to get what in the world was going on. The names of the children in this book are: Shouldn't, Couldn't, Wouldn't, Doesn't, Didn't and Can't. This makes for an incredibly unreadable book. Very frustrating seeing as this is a book is meant for young children. Even to an adult it did not make any sense.

These stupidly named children mean to build a treehouse, but won't because there is a bird nest in the tree.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A play on "Who's on First?" for a more current generation starring the characters Didn't, Can't, Shouldn't, Couldn't, Wouldn't, and Doesn't that didn't, can't shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't, and doesn't do anything productive.

Good story for introducing or reviewing contractions.