The Problem with Pulcifer

by Florence Parry Heide

Pulcifer's preference for books is considered a grave problem by the television-addicted world around him.

Genres: Picture Books

54 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

"What do I like about writing for children? Everything," says Florence Parry Heide, the award-winning author of more than sixty children’s books, including the classic THE SHRINKING OF TREEHORN, illustrated by Edward Gorey. "I like the connection with children," the author says. "I like the connection with all kinds of book people. And I like the connection with my childhood self, which is the most of me. It is the most welcome and familiar of worlds. There miracles abound--indeed it is magical that something I might think of can be put into words, stories, ideas, and that those words end up in the heads of readers I will never meet."

Florence Parry Heide wrote SOME THINGS ARE SCARY, a humorous look at childhood bugaboos, more than thirty years ago. "I had finished another book and was in the mood to write something else," she says. "I decided to get some kindling from the garage, reached into the kindling box and--good grief!--grabbed something soft and mushy. I fled back to the house, scared to death." A brave return visit to the kindling box revealed the object of terror to be nothing more than a discarded wet sponge, but the thought remained: some things are scary. As she recalls, "What scared me as a child was that I’d never learn how to be a real grownup--and the fact is, I never did find out how it goes."


One thing Florence Parry Heide does have a good handle on is the concept of friendship, in all its humorous manifestations. THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, a tongue-in-cheek tale cowritten with Sylvia Van Clief in 1967, pokes at the tendency of well-meaning friends to offer advice instead of help, and presents a valuable lesson about what true friendship means. "One of my many (true) sayings is ‘A new friend is around the corner of every single day,’ " the author declares. "Also true: Friendships last. And last."


Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Florence Parry Heide worked in advertising and public relations in New York City before returning to Pittsburgh during World War II. After the war, she and her husband moved to Wisconsin, where they raised five children, two of whom have cowritten critically acclaimed books with their mother. Florence Parry Heide now lives in Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Noura]

Surprisingly relevant to our time and definitely one of the best picture books that I have ever read. Will be looking up more of her work!

[Mels]

I really liked the start of the book and I enjoyed the illustrations. By the end, though, I kind of felt disappointed in the conclusion. It was stretched out too long and my child definitely lost interest. A lot of the tongue-in-cheek was lost on my toddler too.

[Wesley and Fernie]

My class quite enjoyed this as a read-aloud. We even had a fun discussion about how we could modernize it to make more sense to modern readers (since it first came out in 1982).

[Erin]

Absurdity at its best. I love a good book-loving book. Written in 1982...makes me wonder how Pulcifer would fare today.

[Heidi]

I understand that this book is probably supposed to be funny because it is so contrary to what parents and teachers would normally say, but I didn't find it funny at all. A book about a child who is considered defective because he prefers reading over watching television is bothersome. The fact that the book ends with his parents giving up on him and going back to their television (instead of realizing that he's right and reading a book with him, for example) just makes it worse. The only redeeming part of the book is that, in the end, his parents decide they can't change him, but they love him anyway. Unfortunately, even that falls a bit flat, because of the tone of disappointment in their inability to "fix" him.

[Sarah]

The absurdity of remedial television-watching class for Pulcifer was quite enjoyable. This book is a little bit about following your own path but mostly is a tongue-in-cheek jab at our television-obsessed culture. This bit of a story made me wonder about why individuals surfing the internet separately in the same room or watching television are considered "social" activities but reading a book can be seen as anti-social.

[Johara Almogbel]

I don't understand why this book went out of print. I really don't. The illustrations and the story and everything, it's all perfect. And it was very helpful when reading a lot was a reason for you to stick out (back before books became a trend worldwide). Definitely one of my favorite children's books.

[Emily]

Ha. Ha, ha, ha.(Pulcifer's problem is that he won't watch TV, all he wants to do is read).