Book Review: The Krazees

Have you seen young children play indoors by making a mess all over the place? Then, you have witnessed the “Krazees” in action. That is what the book, The Krazees, is describing. The Krazees by Sam Swope and illustrated by Eric Brace is a children’s picture book told in rhyme about a little girl, named Iggie, who can’t play outside due to rain and gets the “Krazees.” The “Krazees” are born in Iggie’s head as boredom and then, they are manifested as a bunch of little monsters, who make a mess all over the house as a destructive form of play. Once the rain stops, Iggie goes outside, and the “Krazees” go away. The “Krazees” are, symbolically, the unfocused, destructive energy of a child at play.

Like some Dr. Seuss books, this story contains made-up words in order to create rhythm and rhyme. The made-up words in this book are also used for alliteration and onomatopoeia. If you like Dr. Seuss books, then you will enjoy this book. If you don’t like Dr. Seuss books with made-up words, then, this story will be meaningless to you.

I did not enjoy this book the first time I read it to myself. The made-up words ruin the story that the text and the pictures are trying to tell. Every time I read a section with made up words, I had to ask myself, “What is the author saying?” I had to rely on the illustrations to decipher what is happening in the story. Is the author, Sam Swope, using made up words in order to sound crazy? Perhaps, Swope’s made-up words exist in the story for the effect of sounding crazy or perhaps, the made-up words exist in the text, because Sam Swope is just a fan of Dr. Seuss. After all, it makes no logical sense for a child to make a mess inside the home as a form of play. Yet, some of us, adults, have seen children do this. The behavior Sam Swope is describing is senseless; therefore, the text he uses to describe the destructive play in this story is also senseless.

I liked the illustrations for The Krazees. The illustrations certainly communicate a child’s experiencing the “Krazees.” Without the illustrations, you will not know what the made-up words are trying to communicate. The illustrations in The Krazees allow readers to laugh at the behavior of some children, where they make a mess inside the home as a form of play.

I read The Krazees to a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. The six-year-old girl liked the illustrations, but did not like the story’s text. She felt confused by the made-up words just as I did when I first read the book to myself. For her homework’s reading log, she rated The Krazees, by Sam Swope and illustrated by Eric Brace, as having two out of three stars. When the three-year-old boy requested the book read to him a second time, the six-year-old girl told him, “The words don’t make sense.” The three-year-old boy liked both the story’s text and the illustrations. He thought it was funny. At three-years-old, he still cannot read English despite his speaking English fluently. Also, he still makes up words to express himself. Therefore, there is a market for books such as The Krazees despite its made-up words. This book is appropriate for very young children. The six-year-old girl was too mature for this book, but the three-year-old boy was a perfect match.

Had I not tested this book on some children, I would not recommend anyone borrow this book from your local library. However, The Krazees is fine for a limited age bracket such as children, who are too young for school or not yet developmentally ready for school. If your child is in kindergarten or first grade, the story’s text may be just as meaningless as it is for an adult.

Reference

Swope, Sam and Eric Brace. The Krazees. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997.

Links:

Sam Swope

Eric Brace at Linked in

The Krazees at Amazon.com

The Krazees at Barnes & Noble

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