Oh, Were They Ever Happy!

by Peter Spier

One Saturday morning while their parents are away, the three Noonan children decide to paint the house.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Art

42 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 1978

About the author

Peter Spier has established himself as one of the most gifted illustrators in this county. His Noah's Ark was the 1978 Caldecott Award winner, while The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night was a Caldecott Honor book in 1962. The firs two books in his widely acclaimed Mother Goose Library, London Bridge Is Falling Down! and To Market! To Market! were winner and runner-up respectively for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. The Erie Canal and Noah's Ark both won Christopher Awards, while Gobble, Growl, Grunt received Honorable Mention in the first Children's Science Book Award program, sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.

Born and educated in Amsterdam, Mr. Spier came to New York in 1952 after serving in the Royal Dutch Navy and working for a number of years as a reporter for Elsevier's Weekly, Holland's largest magazine. He has illustrated over a hundred books and has contributed a series of murals to the H. F. Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been around for awhile and I can see why! It's the sort of story that parents and children will read and enjoy together--yet both will get something different out of it. When the parents in this story leave to run errands all day, the baby sitter fails to show up and the kids decide to "help" Mom and Dad by painting the house for them (a task Mom and Dad both planned to do). And, oh my, are they creative and exuberant in their color schemes and quite thorough in their paint job! They are very thoughtful children, even "cleaning up" after their job (the illustrations of the bathroom covered in paint splatters shows just how successful they were, haha!) At the end, Mom and Dad come home and "Oh, were they ever happy!" ;-p Great fun!

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some children decide to be helpful whilst their parents are out for the day. The outside of the house needs painting and there are so many cans of paint in the garage they set to work. Enthusiaticly painting every surface available and even remembering to clean up afterwards their parents are bound to be pleased.

A wonderfully humorous book about children helping, I'm sure children would really enjoy this story, find it fun and enjoy seeing that the children don't see things the same way as their parents will!

Read on open library.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When their parents must go out for a day to run errands, and the baby-sitter never turns up, the three Noonan children - inspired by their mother's observation that the house needs painting - decide to be extra helpful, and get the job done themselves! Grabbing all the half-full paint cans in the garage and basement, they transform their house (as well as garage and fence), working hard all day under the supervision of the family dog and cat. Won't their parents be surprised and happy, when they see the colorful results!?!

This book had me giggling almost from the very beginning, and I appreciated the wild and colorful mayhem throughout - the poor dog, who ended up with a pink head! - as well as the young Noonans' innocent good intentions. The final product of all their hard work is not to be missed, nor is the final line of the book, which is a masterpiece of irony!

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would never have even known about this delight of a book had it not appeared on The Washington Post’s list of 99 recommended children’s books. When the Noonan children’s babysitter doesn’t show up, the three children take it upon themselves to tackle a big chore their father didn’t get to. Let’s just say that the results were guaranteed to dismay their parents. I loved it, while breathing a sigh of relief that it didn’t happen with my own children.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure fun! Three very good, obedient, resourceful, and helpful children decide to do a needed chore when their parents leave for the day and the babysitter doesn’t show up. The children, their dog, their cat, their tools, the bathroom (the children are so good they do clean up after themselves) and oh yes, the house they’re painting all get very colorful, the house and the property in particular. The illustrations are very, very, very colorful. I know children who will feel gleeful as the story progresses, and it’s great fun for both children and adults. Guess I’m part kid because, while I wouldn’t really be pleased, I enjoyed the results.

[Bari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great example of what children would do!

[Charlie Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Spier is a genius illustrator and storyteller. He's written some truly marvelous things. This...is not a one of them - but it was still enjoyable for me to read, and enjoyable for my granddaughter to hear and see the pictures, and made me and her mama laugh out loud. I still smile every time I think of it. It's the story of a family of kids whose parents go away for the day. The kids, on their own, decide that they'll help their parents out by painting the house. The pictures have to be seen. Check this out and laugh.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

As opposed to Spier's other books I love that are a visual feast, this one made me squirm. The babysitter never shows up!? The kids paint the house like a Pollack?!

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing account of what happens when children overhear their momma tell father that he needs to repaint the house. When the sitter fails to show, the kids take matters into their own hands. It’s a colorful catastrophe that ensues among the three kids, two pets, and teddy bear.

I loved the buildup to anticipating the parents’ reaction...and then not getting to even glimpse the big reveal. 🤣

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars

The illustrations are nice and
attractive and appropriate.

The storyline--plot--was quite
good, actually quite creative in a way.

Children in general would quite
enjoy this book.

I just hope it would not give
them some inappropriate ideas
that would cause their parents
problems.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The blurb says it all, “one day while the parents are away, the Noonan children decide to paint the house.”

Light and airy illustrations accompany a sparse and precise story. And all who read it were happy.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel a smidgen uneasy with how happy my preschoolers are when I read this book, and with what awed interest they watch the main characters' accomplishments mount from page to page.

I think we'll be keeping an eye on the paint cans in our garage.

[Ruth]

Love the illustrations, but I got so stressed about the kids painting the house!

[Camille Haynie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book. I love Peter Spier books. They help with imagination, predictions, and seeing actions and results.

[Ammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was nauseous reading this. 😬 All I could think was, "Would Homeowners Insurance cover that?"

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was amazing! They are in so much trouble!

[Linnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute! Adorable tale of some kids and their pets just wanting to help their parents. The illustrations are charming as well.

[Rodopa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun for my 4 year old.

[Edna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is silly. The kids' parents leave home to run some errands. Their babysitter never shows up so they are left home alone with their pets. They heard their mother asking their father when was he going to paint the house. So, while their parents were gone the kids had an idea. They decided to paint their house. Everything was painted including their fence with different paints and brushes they found at home. At the end, the entire exterior of their house was colorful. All they wanted was help their parents. The story ends with us predicting what the parents reaction would be. Nice story and fun to follow.

[Tracy Poff]

This review also appears on my blog.

The three Noonan children, mistakenly left at home without a babysitter, decide to spend their day helping out by painting the house. Oh, won't their parents be happy!



Peter Spier's Oh, Were They Ever Happy! follows the children from beginning ("I do not know who thought of it first, but there was plenty of paint in the garage.") to end ("Sure looks swell! Won't they be happy when they come home and see what we've done!"). As the children go along, they gradually become messier and the house gradually becomes more colorful, as the children use as many colors of paint as it takes to finish the job.



The children even clean up, when they're done! Won't their parents be happy!

This is a very fun book. They story's amusing as the children go along, happily 'helping' by painting their house (windows and all!). With each passing page, it hardly seems that the mess could get any bigger, but turn the page and it's messier still. The art is simple, colorful (and how!), and perfectly pleasant. Altogether, this book rather reminds me of Wacky Wednesday.

Spier won the Caldecott medal in 1978 for Noah's Ark, which is (mostly) wordless, but has a similar style of art.

Strangely, Oh, Were They Ever Happy! seems not to be in print, and the prices at Amazon are higher than expected, but if you do come by a copy, it's surely worth a read.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story brings us another episode in the Noonan family, who also appear in Spier's later books Christmas and Rain. Before their parents leave the children at home to run errands for the day, Mrs. Noonan remarks to her husband that the house needs painting. When the babysitter never arrives, the three children decide to surprise their parents by painting the house themselves. Opportunistically gathering up a large collection of half-filled paint cans from the garage, they set to work painting the house, top to bottom, chimney and doorknobs, in a variegated rainbow of colors. The well-meaning mayhem that ensues is profoundly destructive, and the children innocent congratulate themselves for a job well done, gleefully anticipating how happy their parents will be to see their handiwork.

The fantastical scale of the children's efforts saves the book from being painful to read, and adults will laugh along with younger readers at the ridiculously costly mistake. While the youngest readers will need help understanding that the children were being foolish, even young readers will appreciate the irony in the closing scene, in which the children eagerly await their parents' arrival. We don't see the parents' reaction, we just see the rainbow-colored house with the phrase: "Oh, were they ever happy!"

This book is unfortunately out of print, but is available in public libraries and on the used book market.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

New books are wonderful...I love discovering new talented authors and watching children's literature evolve. On the other hand, every now and then I discover an older book that is timeless and delightful and I just have to share. This is a book that one of my children randomly pulled off the shelf at the library one afternoon. It is the colorful story of three siblings who are left at home and decide to help their parents out by painting the house. Their messy and outrageous painting style reminds me of my children and the way young children are able to completely let go when they create. Full of splotchy rainbow colored illustrations, brief fast paced text, and a great message about creativity and working hard - this is a great read no matter what decade it was written.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

My six year old read this to me for homework. He enjoyed it, but I did not as much. The story was disjointed and had some pretty big plot holes. The parents just left their kids at home alone with hopes that a babysitter would show up? Maybe the one boy was old enough to be left alone, but the story proves he has poor judgement at best. Why was there so much paint in the house? The author also left out the parents actual reaction to the huge mess. I understand how the last line is supposed to read, but it was lost on the target audience. At least the artwork was decent.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a lovely Saturday. The parents are gone for the day and the babysitter fails to show up. After doing their chores, the three Noonan children decide to help their parents out by painting their home. There's plenty of paint -- of all different colors and brushes and ladders. What more do they need? And they even cleanup! A delightful picture book with plenty of humorous details on each page. And the ending is priceless! "OH, WERE THEY EVER HAPPY!"

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always get a wonderful reaction from the group when this book is read aloud, especially by the adults in attendance. I would have given the book 5 stars, but it does bother me that the parents in this book, leave their children before the babysitter arrives. I guess there wouldn't be a premise for the action in this book otherwise. The children listening to this book love to watch for the cat and dog in this story as it unfolds. Many giggles during this read, that I have used for years.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really cute book about some kid that were left alone (the babysitter was supposed to show up in minutes, but didn't come) and decided to paint the house. Children can follow them through the whole process, right down to cleaning the brushes and leaving the paint cans out on the curb for the garbage man. This story is creative and colorful, imaginative and fun.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some children overhear their mother asking their father when he will paint the outside of the house. When their parents go off to run errands and the babysitter fails to show up, the children decide to tackle the chore themselves. Using a variety of paint and styles, create a masterpiece color out of their house.

Excellent illustrations.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read this the other day and it's still good. A highly quotable story, and very relevant to anyone who as a child decided to "help" and/or those who are now parents and suffer through the same thing on the other end now.

[Cana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mommy says: Great illustrations, which is what you would expect from Peter Spier. And a great tale about some very, very helpful children whose babysitter does not show up! (Note to self: LOCK UP THE PAINT!)