Sayonara, Mrs. Kackleman

by Maira Kalman

Lulu and her brother adore their Japanese tour highlighted by hotel rooms with futons and no shoes allowed, fish markets, and even a frog who writes haiku

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Japan, Kids, Fiction, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New York with her family at the age of four. She has worked as a designer, author, illustrator and artist for more than thirty years without formal training. Her work is a narrative journal of her life and all its absurdities. She has written and illustrated twelve children's books including Ooh-la-la- Max in Love, What Pete Ate, and Swami on Rye. She often illustrates for The New Yorker magazine, and is well known for her collaboration with Rick Meyerowitz on the NewYorkistan cover in 2001. Recent projects include The Elements of Style (illustrated), and a monthly on-line column entitled Principles of Uncertainty for The New York Times.

She lives in New York and walks a lot.

(http://www.saulgallery.com)

Reviews

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently came across Time magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time list. I have loved children's literature my whole life and have been a children's librarian for eight years. Obviously, I was interested in that list. As I often do when I am intrigued, a created a little reading project. I had read 86 of the 100 books, and I decided to read the remaining 14.

I was excited that a Maira Kalman book made the list. It is out of print and not in our local public library system so I purchased it on thriftbooks.com. Ummmm... there's a reason this 1989 book is out of print. The story is chaotic, ridiculous, and features bad poetry. Not a fan.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A zany, charming, and informative picture book in Maira Kalman's inimitable style about two kids visiting Japan. The illustrations are colorful and fun, with marvelous detail and subtlety, and the language is poetic and funny.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time.

[Toni Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children, Lulu and Alexander, need a break from their daily lives, including the "dreaded Mrs. Kackleman," and her piano lessons. So, the kids head for Japan! What happens is an imaginary (or is it?) journey to Japan, full of whimsy, word play, wonderful drawings, haiku, and fun. The old-fashioned mixes with modern (1980's, when the book was written). This is a book to be read over and over with children, who will enjoy the humor of the story (Japasneeese?) and the delightful, intricate pictures. I wish I had known about this book when my son was a child.

I was sorry to read an Amazon review written by someone who had lived in Japan with her family. She laments that modern-day Japan has left behind some of the culture represented by this book, and has moved into a consumer-driven, overworked society.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book, generally speaking. I like the book for the Japanese culture. Some of the jokes were a little bit random and also seemed to detract from the book. Also, the ending I was a little lost and seemed to just end.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Maira Kalman, bless you for making me smile. This delightful tale is chock full of whimsy. I loved going to Pajan, I mean Japan, with Lulu and Alexander. And how prophetic that their travel was booked with Mr Google!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the picture book tour of Japan, but Maira Kalman's illustrations were a little too bright and chaotic for me.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents didn't like this book, so my sister and I always asked for it for our bedtime story.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical illustrations from Kalman's imagination and trip to Japan.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

#85 on Time Magazine 100 Best Children's books

I had never heard of this book. It does span a cultural bridge between us and Japan and its people and
customs.

[Kazue Sohma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic children's book with great art!

[Elizabeth S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neither my preschooler or I could "get" this book. I understand that the intention is to teach kids about Japan, but it starts with the Mikado, and what kid knows anything about Gilbert and Sullivan? And then the 2 kids decide to go to Japan so they don't have a piano lesson with Mrs. Kackleman. That is just the first two pages, then Mikado and Mrs. Kackleman are never mentioned again (so why is Mrs. K in the title?).

Then the 2 kids go to Japan. It is played like it is real, but it must be imaginary because there aren't any adults that go with them. But, of course, my preschooler thought they really went and she now thinks it is okay for kids to go on trips by themselves. And then because that is pretend, but the text doesn't explain that it is pretend, we can't tell which parts of all that great information about Japan is accurate or also pretend.

Some other reviewers have talked about how great it is that the text is written like a real child wrote it. But I found it very confusing. Here are some examples: "The quiet was so quiet that the quiet filled the air." Now, I like that kind of stuff in a nonsense book, or a silly book, but I thought this was supposed to be a fun book to learn about Japan.

And don't get me started on the artwork.

So this is a surreal book that is also trying to be silly and factual and entertaining and connect with kids and educational and culturally expanding... to the point that I don't think it does any of those things well.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Kalman's earliest books, traveling through two children to Japan. It has all the ingredients of her later works, even if she was still developing her skills: the jumbled verse, the childlike juxtaposition of ideas or words, strong typeface inside various shapes, and Kalman's signature visual style. Her drawings are somewhat rough and even simple, but also so expressive and capture the character of her characters.

the bowls of noodles arrived with chopsticks. Alexander's chopsticks kept flipping and flying through the air. I taught him how to use them and we all slurped our noodles, which is a perfectly perfectly fine thing to do in Japan.

...and on the opposite page is a perfect depiction of a woman all slurpy as she eats noodles.

[Yuyingchao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing style is really humorous, and the illustrations are doodle-like, colorful and fun.
The readers get a great first-hand view on their culture experiences another culture even though the story is by imaginary.
Japanese cultural group is being represented in every page in this book.
A great multi-culture book to read!

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very surreal book about two kids who go to Japan, so it provides an introduction to the culture there (and how it seems from a kid's perspective). The artwork is great.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children daydream a trip to Japan. Imaginative illustrations. Touches on small bits of Japanese culture, ancient and modern.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whimsical, but very strange.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the illustrations.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sayonara, Mrs. Kackleman
Kalman, Maira
good cultural read aloud