The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie

September 22, 2014
Thinking of getting a hamster? Read this first. Caldecott Medalist Van Allsburg chronicles the bleak existence of Sweetie Pie, neglected by one child after another. The hamster’s first owner prefers screen time and sells Sweetie Pie to a boy with a hostile dog—readers receive a close-up, rodent’s-eye view of the dog’s slavering jaws. Next comes Cousin Sue, a girl with malicious eyes, who forces her pet into a clear plastic ball and rolls him down a hill (“Exhausted, Sweetie Pie waited for the girl to rescue him, but she never came”). Eventually, the hamster does time as a school pet. At the holidays, a boy promises “to take care of him,” only to forget him on a playground as snow begins to fall; Sweetie Pie sinks “into a deep and frigid sleep.” Van Allsburg does not play for laughs or pull his punches: when a teacher suggests that a kind child must have saved the icy hamster, “The children knew better.” Sweetie Pie’s grim and all-too-realistic experience raises ethical dilemmas, and a squirrel-ex-machina conclusion offers a happy ending, but little comfort. Ages 4–8.

September 1, 2014
A picture book about the difficult life of a pet hamster. Sweetie Pie is a hamster who, it seems, is doomed to be owned by a series of neglectful children. Originally bought from a pet store, Sweetie Pie is sold down the river, as it were, by a series of child owners who, when the hamster becomes no longer cute or a novelty, hand him off to someone else. Finally he ends up in a school classroom, tended by the children. But even then Sweetie Pie's troubles are not over. One of the children forgets him on the playground, and snow and darkness fall over the hamster trapped in his cage. Van Allsburg's illustrations, done in his trademark precise style, evoke a feeling of detachment that matches the oddly unempathetic text. When, the next morning, the careless child rushes to collect Sweetie Pie, all he finds is an empty, unlatched cage. He is contrite, but no one seems to care much-a guinea pig takes Sweetie Pie's place in the classroom soon enough. The good news is Sweetie Pie was rescued by squirrels and now has a great life with squirrel friends in a tree. The bad news is that Sweetie Pie's "happy ending" comes with no consequences for all the rotten children in his life and is wildly, even harmfully, unrealistic. Save this one for non-animal lovers. (Picture book. 5-8)

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September 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-Master storyteller Van Allsburg's latest children's book is about a frustrated hamster. He is bought by a girl and given the name Sweetie Pie, but she quickly grows tired of him and tries to sell him. As Sweetie Pie is passed from child to child, he yearns for the freedom of nature and a life uncaged. But his caretakers are unfortunately negligent; he's overfed, frightened by a large dog, abused inside an exercise ball, and finally forgotten in the snow. Children looking for a cute story about a misunderstood hamster will find this title bittersweet, in the vein of The Velveteen Rabbit. The story might serve as a cautionary tale for children who need lessons about how to treat their pets, but the more dismal scenes make it less than ideal for storytime. Van Allsburg's backgrounds and designs feel much more simplistic than previous works, and his normal sepia color scheme has been traded in for bright colors and limited shadow, keeping the book's tone as lighthearted as possible given its serious nature. Although a departure from his other masterpieces like Jumanji (1991) and Polar Express (1985, both Houghton Harcourt), Misadventures of Sweetie Pie is an additional purchase for most collections.-Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

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October 1, 2014
Grades K-3 Sweetie Pie is the last hamster chosen at the pet store, but he remains cautiously optimistic about what lies ahead after a little girl takes him home. What he doesn't know yet is that Pigtails is the first of a series of unreliable children who will be his caretaker. Each child loses interest in succession, distracted by a new computer or a bigger dog, trading Sweetie Pie from one house to the next until, at last, he is left out in his cage in a blizzard, forgotten. He manages to escape, though, and finds happiness with an adopted family of squirrels, as the children turn their (temporary) attentions to a new class guinea pig. Van Allsburg's gentle shading and soft palette are at odds with the story's raw undercurrent; the narrative's direct, incidental prose offers a harsh indictment of the children's behavior, even as the fine character work, especially for Sweetie Pie himself, adds nuance and tenderness. Older children will awaken to the responsibilities of pet care and the deeper values of empathy and affection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)