Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch

by Nancy Willard, Diane Dillon (Illustrator), Leo Dillon (Illustrator)

Here is an imaginative tale about the unconventional fifteenth-century Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch, as told by his wildly dissatisfied housekeeper. Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon and their son, Lee, depict a most unusual household filled with pickle-winged fish, flying furniture, and other bizarre delights. “From its sumptuous paintings to its gilt frames to its quixotic verse, everything about this exquisitely produced tour de force bespeaks wit and elegance.”-- Publishers Weekly

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Poetry, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 1991

About the author

NANCY WILLARD was an award-winning children's author, poet, and essayist who received the Newbery Medal in 1982 for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She wrote dozens of volumes of children's fiction and poetry, including The Flying Bed, Sweep Dreams, and Cinderella's Dress. She also authored two novels for adults, Things Invisible to See and Sister Water, and twelve books of poetry, including Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems. She lived with her husband, photographer Eric Lindbloom, and taught at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, fun, fun rhyme with phrases that kids will love to repeat long after reading the book or having it read to them. The illustrations and story are a hoot. There is an informative note at the end about the real artist, which sort of makes this an art and historical fiction book as well as a pure fiction picture book. I love the two main characters and the story arc. Flamboyantly entertaining.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really anything to do with the historical personage, just a rather silly poem inspired by his art. The Dillons' Boschean illustrations are totally worth a look, though! Appealing for both adult fans of the artist and children who like searching out details in illustrations. All or most of the panels appear to be viewable online.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed both the illustrations and story. Hieronymus Bosch was a real artist who died in 1516. He drew and painted pictures of people and objects acting in strange ways and twisted to creative shapes. (I had never heard of him before reading this!) Willard turned this into a fun poetic story of an artist with unusual creatures creating havoc in his home. The Dillons created amazing artwork that really complements and completes the story. Wonderfully done! Quite magical. I also enjoyed the information about Bosch, Willard and the Dillons almost as much as the story. My kids also thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Ashley H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story, but had to give it 5 stars because of the artwork alone. Probably the most gorgeous illustrations (also, the way they placed each illustration inside a beautiful sculpted metal frame their son made) I've come upon in years.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent!

[Nostalgia Reader]

Sadly, I was underwhelmed with the story-poem as well as many of the creatures in the illustrations. Still, it's a lovely book to introduce kids to art history.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary picture book which celebrates the artist Hieronymus Bosch with a lively poem and intricate illustrations.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting illustrations.

[Samantha Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange tale filled with remarkable creatures and odd images. The first page has no illustration other than within the text, and I find this very exciting in a suspenseful kind of way. However, the rest of the book is laid out rather specifically: on the left page is the text in a colorful font that was hand-lettered by the illustrators, and directly above the text is an image that appears to be sketched and generally faces the right page in a fashion that implies motion to progress the story; on the right page is the picture that embraces the scene. The image on the right page is always bordered by a frame that was actually constructed by one of the illustrators (the Dillons), and each of the framed pictures is cluttered in a busy/frenzy-filled way with odd creatures and a color palette that helps set the mood (mostly reds with intense emotions and blues with tired emotions). The content of the text is written poetically with rhyme and at times contained unusual phrases that were difficult to understand. Still, Willard's Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch is undeniably intriguing.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining, fantastic tale/poem that is fun to read aloud. The illustrations by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon are wonderful, as I expected from the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrators. The rhyming, lyrical narrative is quite humorous, if a bit strange.

We really enjoyed reading this book together and I enjoyed reading the note at the end of the book that explained that Hieronymous Bosch was a real person, an artist who lived in the 15th century. I never knew!

[Sarah Ashburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again this book had a very good story line and included a good amount of language play but the book had too many difficult words. I think that this story would be another teacher read aloud because it would be too difficult for a young student learning to read. I do like how many of the letter sounds are highlighted throughout the story.

[Blaze Dugger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while, a piece of art comes along where I am almost annoyed at how good it is, mostly due to its unique yet obvious concept. Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch is such an art piece. Combining the whimsy and surreal nature of Bosch's work between its pictures and poetically silly writing. Willard tells the story of Bosch's (girlfriend? Housekeeper?) as she becomes fed up with the various strange creatures which infest his home. These creatures are characteristic of the amalgamations that Bosch would put in his paintings. After realizing that the creatures love her company and that they are harmless despite being a lot to deal with, she decides to stay with Bosch. While the story events are relatively simple, the story shines in its poetic and playful language which often utilizes double or even triple meanings when describing Bosch's strange creatures. Accompanying this is beautiful artwork which mimics Bosch's style in a near-identical way.

For elementary teachers, this book would be excellent for a few purposes. One, it could be used to introduce basic art history to students by pairing it with necessary background on Bosch's style. Two, it could be used to develop understanding of wordplay and double meaning in students. Many of the words are going to be difficult for students to understand, so diving deep into the word play will also help with basic comprehension. That being said, it may be better utilized with older elementary students. At the high school level, this could be paired with a more complex text, perhaps something by Shakespeare, to provide foundation for understanding more complex wordplay.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pickle winged fish and a beehive in boots populate this sing-song story that tells the story of some of Hieronymus Bosch's wild creations. Mr. Bosch's housekeeper is being driven crazy by his collection of creatures. She can't cook in the oven because it turns itself into a rake. She must fight a dragon to do the dishes. She's had enough and decides to leave. When she is confronted by a suitcase full of weird animals, she decides to return to Hieronymus' house.

Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who lived in the 1450's and often incorporated bizarre creatures and images in his work. This book includes wonderful illustrations and poetic verse that are inspired by Bosch's fantastical paintings and make his art accessible in a whimsical way to children. As an art lover myself, I could stare at the illustrations in this book all day and still find clever new images to make me smile.

Bosch paintings are still a topic of debate and intrigue in the art community. He painted hundreds of year before surrealism, and yet is often considered a surrealist artist. This book could be used by any teacher wanting to incorporate some art history or an artist study into their classroom. Younger students could simply use the book as inspiration for creating their own magical and mythical creatures, and writing a story to go along with their art. Older students might use this book as an introduction to Bosch's actual art, which was often quite macabre and discuss the various interpretations of his work.

[Aimee Fuhrman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won't lie--this was a strange book, which considering the subject matter shouldn't have surprised me, I guess, but it did. The book focuses on the life and work of Hieronymus Bosch--a Dutch painter in the late thirteenth century. His work was highly unusual for the time, featuring bizarre imaginary subjects--people, creatures, and objects morphed together in grotesque or comical ways. The author chose to make the story as bizarre as Bosch's work, which made it hard for me to enjoy. That being said, the illustrators (the Dillons) did a fabulous job of capturing the spirit of Bosch's work in their painted illustrations.

[Andrea Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story of Hieronymus Bosch's household unfolds with his housekeeper calling it quits. There are too many strange things in house and Hieronymus replies, "Pish Posh." I like the close rhymes of the poem and the illustrations are amazingly intricate paintings of creatures and odd household things. Each page is almost like an I Spy book, full of details that one might have missed the first time around. I was tickled pink to learn that a family of artists worked on the illustrations and they were influenced by Bosch himself. For me, this was a delightful follow-up to A Visit to William Blake's Inn.

[Delaney Mohr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this book was good, but it was certainly and odd book. I do think that children would like it though, due to all of the different creatures. The rhyming will also help kids stay a-tune to the book. The pages have boarders which makes it feel like you are not as involved in the story as you would want to be. When I first saw the font, I figured it would be a medieval book. I thought that it was interesting that the animals chosen for the story were animals that you typically do not like at all. The idea of bringing together dragons, cats, and crickets is an interesting concept. I would love to see kids reactions to this story.

[Hayden Hanshew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The words rhymed so that made it fun to read, and the illustrations reminded me of the glass case that holds the rose in beauty and the beast. There was definitely a lot going on in the illustrations. They were well made and I could clearly see where all kinds of things were. The way it was illustrated made me feel like I was peeking though a window, and Hieronymous Bosch always seemed like she was glaring at people.

[Kathee · Rating 4 out of 5]

INCREDIBLE illustrations inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's work, fun rhymes and a great little story. The story absolutely cracked me up!! I loved it!! The book is a work of art in itself by the Willard family. Written by Nancy, illustrated by Nancy and her husband Leo with the unbelieveably beautiful and detailed bronze frame on the cover created by their son Lee. This is a keeper for your family library.

[McCall DiLorenzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The engaging story and rhymes paired with the beautiful and exciting illustrations made this book really come alive. I believe that the story can be closely related to family and gives a moving lesson about appreciation for what we have. The expressions on the characters faces really set the mood for key moments and complemented the story.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly fun. With wonderful pictures and events happening you are very intrigued with whats going to happen next. The rhyming is fun and catchy it keeps you interested. As well as the color palette giving it that mystical feel throughout the story. A great read!

[charlene.librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dillons have given us an amazingly detailed and inventive set of illustrations in homage to Bosch as well.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange story and illustrations!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lush, eccentric and quirky, this delight of a book reminds children of all ages of the powerful value of caretaking, originality and loving everyone's uniqueness!

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super cute little poem about one of my favorite artists. The artwork is fantastic and really captures a sense of wonder and intrigue.

[Bat713 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever story ties paintings of Hieronymus Bosh’s for escaping into his imaginative art.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to this artist. The illustrations were so thought provoking!!!

[Kaylin Azevedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are very cute. I like that they are realistic but also fairytale. We hear the voice of a woman servant.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this a lot, but the kids found it pretty meh.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book about a very unusual artist. It was the illustrations of the Dillons that made this book a "5 star" for me.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've honestly never seen Hieronymus Bosch's work, but after seeing this, I'd like to. It sounds weird.