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It's Simple, Said Simon
One day, a boy goes out for a walk. He encounters a dog, a cat, and a horse. The dog dares him to growl, the cat dares him to stretch, and the horse dares him to jump. "It's simple," says Simon. Then he meets a tiger, who challenges him to all three dares, with increasing difficulty. Will the boy best the tiger, or the tiger best the boy?
40 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Mary Ann Hoberman
77 books94 followersMary Ann Hoberman was an American author of over 30 children's books.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 24, 2017
Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...
A boy is challenged by the animals he meets: a dog, a cat, and a horse. When he out mimics them they congratulate him. "It's simple", says Simon. Then along comes a tiger who challenges him again in all three!
The art was quite artistic and I wondered how my nephew would react to it! Sometimes he does really well with more abstract lines and sometimes its a big struggle... Looking at the illustrations again, I REALLY LOVED the art! The animals were well executed and even though they were mainly background-less they were framed on the page well. Also my nephew LOVES to see his own brown color reflected in the stories we read so I seek them out for him!
So yeah he didn't do bad with the art but it wasn't his favorite and frankly the story was underwhelming... There is no rhyme or reason to the story... We aren't even told he went on a walk... There is NO WAY the boy sounded like a dog so why did the dog congratulate him?! And why in the world did Simon say, "It's simple!"? I feel like the book is teaching stupidity!
But that's not the end! He meets a tiger and does all this mimicking again except he's told he doesn't do it well enough so Simon keeps trying... (He doesn't get upset or anything just does it again?! Such a WASTE of an object lesson here!) It's all a lure though because the tiger wants to eat the boy and tells him so once the boy is on his back. So not only has Simon IGNORED stranger danger and been teaching the kids reading this book to do so too, he's kidnapped!
Instead of Simple Simon getting eaten because he's been out foxed... The tiger makes a couple of stupid decisions too (as if he were a real kidnapper instead of a wild animal!) First he tells the boy right out he wants to eat him. Second even though ALL TIGERS can swim he PRETENDS to be drowning while the boy swims off! I would have much preferred the tiger EAT the boy as a lesson in stranger danger and foolishly doing whatever you are asked by those you meet on the street!!
BOTTOM LINE: Tigers CAN swim! Simon would be dead.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
A boy is challenged by the animals he meets: a dog, a cat, and a horse. When he out mimics them they congratulate him. "It's simple", says Simon. Then along comes a tiger who challenges him again in all three!
The art was quite artistic and I wondered how my nephew would react to it! Sometimes he does really well with more abstract lines and sometimes its a big struggle... Looking at the illustrations again, I REALLY LOVED the art! The animals were well executed and even though they were mainly background-less they were framed on the page well. Also my nephew LOVES to see his own brown color reflected in the stories we read so I seek them out for him!
So yeah he didn't do bad with the art but it wasn't his favorite and frankly the story was underwhelming... There is no rhyme or reason to the story... We aren't even told he went on a walk... There is NO WAY the boy sounded like a dog so why did the dog congratulate him?! And why in the world did Simon say, "It's simple!"? I feel like the book is teaching stupidity!
But that's not the end! He meets a tiger and does all this mimicking again except he's told he doesn't do it well enough so Simon keeps trying... (He doesn't get upset or anything just does it again?! Such a WASTE of an object lesson here!) It's all a lure though because the tiger wants to eat the boy and tells him so once the boy is on his back. So not only has Simon IGNORED stranger danger and been teaching the kids reading this book to do so too, he's kidnapped!
Instead of Simple Simon getting eaten because he's been out foxed... The tiger makes a couple of stupid decisions too (as if he were a real kidnapper instead of a wild animal!) First he tells the boy right out he wants to eat him. Second even though ALL TIGERS can swim he PRETENDS to be drowning while the boy swims off! I would have much preferred the tiger EAT the boy as a lesson in stranger danger and foolishly doing whatever you are asked by those you meet on the street!!
BOTTOM LINE: Tigers CAN swim! Simon would be dead.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
January 14, 2019
simon likes to show off , don't be like simon
October 6, 2010
Excellent for storytime. Probably a 5 there because of the sounds and movements the kids can make following the story.
One day, Simon met a dog.
I bet you can't growl," growled the dog.
Simon growled a low growl.
"Very good," said the dog.
"It's simple," said Simon.
Next, Simon met a cat.
"I bet you can't stretch," purred the cat.
Simon stretched a small stretch.
"Very good," said the cat. "It's simple," said Simon.
Farther on, Simon met a horse. "I bet you can't jump," neighed teh horse.
Simon jumped a short jump. "Very good," said the horse. "It's simple," said Simon.
Then Simon met a tiger.
"I bet you can't growl," growled the tiger. Simon growled a growl.
"That's not loud enough," growled the tiger. Simon growled a louder growl.
"Still not loud enough," growled the tiger. Simon growled a really loud growl.
"Very good," said the tiger. "It's simple," said Simon.
"I bet you can't stretch," said the tiger. Simon stretched a small stretch. "That's not long enough," said the tiger.
Simon stretched a longer stretch. "Still no long enough," said teh tiger. Simon stretched a really long stretch.
"Very good," said teh tiger. "It's simple," said Simon. "I bet you can't jump," said the tiger.
Simon jumped a short jump.
"That's not high enough," said the tiger. Simon jumped a higher jump. "Still not high enough," said the tiger. Simon jumped a really high jump.
"Very good," said the tiger. "It's simple," said Simon.
"I bet you can't jump on my back," said the tiger.
Simon jumped up on the tiger's back.
"Now I've got you," said the tiger, and off he trotted into the jungle.
It began to get dark. "Could you please take me home now?" said Simon. "It's almost suppertime, and I'm hungry." "I am too," said the tiger.
"I'm having an egg for my supper," said Simon. "I'm having a boy for mine," said the tiger.
"I'm thirsty," said Simon. "I am too," said the tiger, and he ambled down to the river.
"I can't reach the water," said Simon. The tiger waded out a little. "I still can't reach it," said Simon. The tiger waded out a little farther. "I still can't quite reach it," said Simon.
The tiger waded out as far as he cuold. Simon leaped off his back and began to swim.
"Help! yelled the tiger. "I can't swim!"
"It's simple," said Simon. And we swam down the river and got home just in time for supper.
One day, Simon met a dog.
I bet you can't growl," growled the dog.
Simon growled a low growl.
"Very good," said the dog.
"It's simple," said Simon.
Next, Simon met a cat.
"I bet you can't stretch," purred the cat.
Simon stretched a small stretch.
"Very good," said the cat. "It's simple," said Simon.
Farther on, Simon met a horse. "I bet you can't jump," neighed teh horse.
Simon jumped a short jump. "Very good," said the horse. "It's simple," said Simon.
Then Simon met a tiger.
"I bet you can't growl," growled the tiger. Simon growled a growl.
"That's not loud enough," growled the tiger. Simon growled a louder growl.
"Still not loud enough," growled the tiger. Simon growled a really loud growl.
"Very good," said the tiger. "It's simple," said Simon.
"I bet you can't stretch," said the tiger. Simon stretched a small stretch. "That's not long enough," said the tiger.
Simon stretched a longer stretch. "Still no long enough," said teh tiger. Simon stretched a really long stretch.
"Very good," said teh tiger. "It's simple," said Simon. "I bet you can't jump," said the tiger.
Simon jumped a short jump.
"That's not high enough," said the tiger. Simon jumped a higher jump. "Still not high enough," said the tiger. Simon jumped a really high jump.
"Very good," said the tiger. "It's simple," said Simon.
"I bet you can't jump on my back," said the tiger.
Simon jumped up on the tiger's back.
"Now I've got you," said the tiger, and off he trotted into the jungle.
It began to get dark. "Could you please take me home now?" said Simon. "It's almost suppertime, and I'm hungry." "I am too," said the tiger.
"I'm having an egg for my supper," said Simon. "I'm having a boy for mine," said the tiger.
"I'm thirsty," said Simon. "I am too," said the tiger, and he ambled down to the river.
"I can't reach the water," said Simon. The tiger waded out a little. "I still can't reach it," said Simon. The tiger waded out a little farther. "I still can't quite reach it," said Simon.
The tiger waded out as far as he cuold. Simon leaped off his back and began to swim.
"Help! yelled the tiger. "I can't swim!"
"It's simple," said Simon. And we swam down the river and got home just in time for supper.
November 18, 2009
I like Mary Ann Hoberman's poetry, so I was interested to read this non-poetic tale of a boy and his encounters with various animals. The last animal he meets is the tiger, who wants to eat him. How he outwits the tiger is clever, but the implication at the end is that the tiger drowns, because he shouts "I can't swim!" Well, tigers CAN swim--I've seen it on documentaries. I hate inaccuracies like that. I know the tiger could have been saying that he can't swim to get the boy to come back so he wouldn't lose his meal, but still, I don't like even implying false information to kids. Disappointing.
April 21, 2016
I changed the ending for 2 reasons: 1) to save time & make it simpler to act out & 2) to make it nicer for the little kids. It's a great story to act out.
After the tiger is done betting him to jump, stretch, growl, I said "And they became best friends forever."
After the tiger is done betting him to jump, stretch, growl, I said "And they became best friends forever."
September 25, 2008
Cute, cute. Great for story time.
January 21, 2016
A variant of the gingerbread man. Tiger gives a little boy named simon a ride on his back.
August 28, 2013
I enjoyed this story. I liked how the author had Simon do an action verb with every animal he came across. I also liked the ending and how clever Simon was with escaping the tiger.
June 13, 2016
Very simple book with very simple illustrations. Nicely done. And great for building confidence to try, but then to practice to get even better.
April 10, 2018
This book is delightful and would have normally earned five stars, however, in some of the final pages of the book, a tiger plans to eat the protagonist (the titular Simon). Normally I might forgive painting tigers as man eaters as that's been a common trope since Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book. In that regard I usually just have to shake my fist at the sky and shout, "Darn you, Kipling! Darn you to heck!" I digress - tigers being man eaters is not true, but none the less has a foundation in children's stories. However, this book claims that tigers can't swim. How false, how odiously false! Is it not bad enough that tigers are defamed as the aforementioned man eaters - second in reputation only to sharks? But now you claim they can't swim? Ma'am, Ms. Hoberman, ma'am - tigers are GREAT swimmers. They LOVE to swim. OF COURSE THEY CAN SWIM.
Anyway it was a nice story otherwise, with a bit of a twist on the normal sort of story as this by introducing the danger element.
Anyway it was a nice story otherwise, with a bit of a twist on the normal sort of story as this by introducing the danger element.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2022
Some aspects of this I liked, for example the illustration of the tiger stretching and some of the other art. Some I disliked, for example the snotty way this brat one-upped all the animals. And the ending I despised, because tigers, in addition to all their other accomplishments, are good swimmers!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews