ALA Booklist

In this sequel to 26 Fairmont Avenue (1999) and Here We All Are BKL My 15 00, dePaola picks up the story of his young life. Chronicling another few months, this book begins with the illness of his baby sister and ends with the start of the school year and Tomie's learning to read. Each chapter recounts a special event: the family's visit to the World's Fair, Tomie's dance recital, and his appearance as the bride in a tiny tots wedding. Since the action occurs some 60 years ago, there are details dePaola must explain (knickers, Ovaltine), which slows the narrative in places. But children will still come away with is a sense of how remarkably the same many things are: fear for a sick sibling; the excitement of a summer outing; the anticipation of the first day of school. Since these remembrances now have a series name (26 Fairmont Avenue Book series), expect to read more about Tomie.

Horn Book

This third chapter-book installment of dePaola's memoirs culminates with the artist entering first grade and finally--finally!--getting to learn to read. DePaola's writing and recollective skills are so fresh that kids will feel like he's sitting right next to them, telling his tales in and out of school with disarming charisma and not a hint of nostalgia.

Kirkus Reviews

DePaola is irresistible. In this simply told memoir, aimed directly at the hearts of his young readers, he follows 26 Fairmount Avenue (1999) and Here We All Are (p. 630) with more stories of his childhood. In this volume, his baby sister Maureen contracts pneumonia and has to be hospitalized, he gets a new outfit for the family's trip to the 1939 World's Fair in New York, and he's in a tap dance recital. He longs to get Miss Kiniry to be his first-grade teacher, even though she, like the principal, insists on spelling his first name "Tommy." Other remembrances include a family outing to the beach, a "Tiny Tot" wedding, and getting his first library card. DePaola spins out these recollections with pitch-perfect intensity, warmth, energy, and a precise sense of how it felt to be a kid. Almost a primer on how to write with emotional directness for young people, this will also teach its readers a little on how to tell their own stories. Best of all it gives value to the comings and goings that make up a life, even one as unique as dePaola's. Abundantly illustrated with wonderful vignettes and spot drawings of the cast of characters that includes all his friends and relations, it begs to be continued. More please. (Biography. 7-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

DePaola's drawings lend his characteristic warmth and humor to this third installment in the 26 Fairmount Avenue chapter-book series, based on the author/artist's childhood. Ages 7-10. (June)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-Tally another winner for dePaola with this new installment in the "26 Fairmount Avenue" series. He graces the chapters with black-and-white spot sketches for homey details of baby sister's pneumonia, the 1939 World's Fair, and beginning first grade, to name a few. A conversational tone offers great read-aloud possibilities for the younger set. Plenty of humor and lighthearted details, like a chewing-gum beard and eating popcorn to avoid carsickness, will appeal to a wide audience. Add in the pleasure of mentioning familiar characters like grandfather Tom and the Nanas, and readers will be delighted with the final line, "There's more coming!"-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.