No Fighting, No Biting!

by Else Holmelund Minarik, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)

Poor Cousin Joan! She can't read her book when Willy and Rosa are pinching and squeezing and fighting. So she tells them stories about two little alligators who are always fighting and biting—just like Willy and Rosa!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, 1st Grade, Young Adult, Chapter Books, Family

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Else Holmelund Minarik was the author of the Little Bear series of children's books, which were successful as books, and were also made into a successful children's TV series. The Little Bear books sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.

Else Minarik was also the author of another well-known book, No Fighting, No Biting!

She was born in Denmark, and with her family immigrated to the United States at the age of four. After she graduated from Queens College, City University of New York she became a journalist for the Rome Daily Centennial newspaper and taught first-graders during WWII. Minarik lived in Nottingham, New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

ah, one of THE books of my childhood.
at almost 40 i still reprimand myself with the classic words oft repeated to me by my sister

NO FIGHTING
NO BITING

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book again and again. I love the story within the story which one never, NEVER sees in a beginning reader. I love that it's about the power of story.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 2 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 20 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[jennifer]

Catchy message.

[August · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tja, nu er dette jo en børnebog, og som sådan bør der jo naturligvis være plads til megen (fri) fantasi. Men hvordan kannibalisme (en stor "krokodille" - som originalens 'alligator' åbenbart er blevet til i Tove Ditlevsens besynderlige oversættelse - der ønsker at fortære de unger, der repræsenterer bogens to yngste hovedpersoner) relaterer sig til temaet om de to børn, der ikke kan "sidde stille", mens Joan ("Janne") læser, er jeg ikke helt med på. For en krokodille burde skrækscenariet ved at komme til at bevæge sig bort fra alfarvej (eller ved at være uartig) - hvis det er det, der er ment med denne version af 'store stygge ulv' - vel nærmere være at ende sine dage som dametaske?

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this is a beginning reader; young listeners may get bored with it. The storyline is a cute one that starts out with human children fighting with one another then they are separated and read to and they begin to listen to a couple of baby alligators and what they all go through and learn that they shouldn't fight and argue with one another. It is a chapter book. My 21 mth granddaughter that usually enjoys sitting listening to books was bored with this book. But other children may like it.

[Stephanie Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I ever read for myself. I still have the copy. I just sat down one day when I was about 4 and started reading, causing my mother to start screaming (I was the first child, obviously). From the day my second son figured out how to piss off his brother, my mantra was, "no fighting, no biting," and I have been known to refer to my children, now almost grown, as Lightfoot and Quickfoot. I look forward to reading it to my grandchildren one day.

[Contrarius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book created one of the standard refrains of my childhood -- "No fighting, no biting!". That's what my mom would always tell my brother and me when we'd start getting too rowdy. I don't know how much that mantra actually calmed us down, but it certainly stuck with us. And since the phrase is still with me 40 years later, the book deserves all the stars I'm giving it. ;)

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

children cannot get along and aunt joan shares a story about alligators with them. can i say that this is truly an easy reader classic? the illustrations (especially the facial expressions on both child and beast) really make the story.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is blah, blah, blah. Falls flat on its fanny from trying too hard to be a moral tale.

[Marcia Van Camp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the illustrations by Maurice Sendak, enjoyed the book as a child for it's cute little story about alligators.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my life as a mom and someone who wants desperately to read all the time!

[Jody Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

All about Applegator Children ....

[Jugglerilluminati Ur Mom! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bighting hurts pls don do it thx

[Jack&jude · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. The boys did not like it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 5.0 of 5

I don't review these older children's books too often, but I really should.

This is a Level 2/Grades 1-3 easy-to-read book. It's quite charming, and it's actually ABOUT something (learn to play nicely). And while many of the books at this level that are being written and published today are still didactic, they try to teach a lesson in an indirect way. A story such as this might feature two bears trying to eat the same honey. Or a pair of caterpillars on the same leaf. Author Minarik addresses two children who aren't getting along. But she doesn't come right out and say "Play Nicely!" she still goes round-about, letting the children make the connection. But it's children ... not bears or caterpillars. I find that quite refreshing!

There are a lot of books out there for children and it can be overwhelming on what to select. This book is considered a classic - a for a reason. It still holds up. Why take a chance on something you're not sure about? Go to the library in that case. But this has proven to be a good book for decades so consider sticking with something that works and is still a delight.

Looking for a good book? No Fighting, No Biting! by Else Holmelund Minarik with art by Maurice Sendak is a god book for young readers.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Um, I don't know what I just read really. While I understood the main plot I felt that it was clumsily constructed and maybe sounded better in my mind (I mean it was written by the author who wrote Little Bear and illustrated by the guy who did Where the Wild Things Are... What could go wrong?) than what the finished product turned out to be. But maybe I missed something. I think this was written before either of them made their name and became famous on their own for later works. Still, it's about a woman named Joan who's trying to get her two cousins to shut up, sit down, and read in peace and quiet, so she tells them a tale about two alligators. It's not terrible, but I just didn't get it.

[Billy Noecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story. It revolves about two children that cannot sit still and leave eachother alone in the presence of their cousin Joan, who is trying to read. The two are so relentless that they finally are able to egg Joan into telling them a story that the two could definitely relate to. After the story, the kids realize their biting and fighting is not winning the favor of anybody, and conclude that they can exist and read together without picking at eachother. All students can relate to this, especially between friends or younger or older siblings.

[Ben Borkovitz]

This was hilarious to read to my 3 and 6 year old kids, and if you have a kid sense of humor it might be hilarious even without kids to read it to.

The author has a nice touch. This will be probably be well read and referred to by my kids for the next year or two...

She also wrote the Little Bear books, which I also think are really good, and recommend.

[h · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom used to read me this story a lot as a child (probably to discourage me from fighting with my sister), so I decided to reread it when it came up while I was cleaning. It’s still a cute little story for children.

[Mh Weyler]

This was a short chapter book that my son read to all of us. It is particularly humorous sitting on the couch with three children who are constantly "fighting" and "biting." It is written by the same author who wrote the charming Little Bear stories.

[Chris Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I can remember reading. My mother used it as a lesson to keep my sister and me from fighting. It must be said, she only had partial success. Nearly half a century later, I still repeat the title, though.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images have a little more bite than some parts of the story. Unusual story-in-story structure.

[Honore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book for a Maurice Sendak fan to read. Not so sure that a young reader would enjoy it.

[Caitlin Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story for putting on voices and having narratives within a narrative...engaging, silly, and a familiar scene for anyone with kids.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple lesson. Nice artwork.

[Gillyweed Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the little bear books and I was hoping this would be good too, but alas.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remembered the Title from my childhood, though not the plot. I should create a shelf just for books with alligators. Definitely sympathetic to poor Joan who just wants to read her book.

[Coffee Beans Of Mystery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to use this for all of life.

[Beverlee Jobrack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but so involved with alligators and Victorian aunts who want to read.