mrsbond's review against another edition
3.0
Young boy knows he wants to be an artist. His teacher limits him to 8 crayons and a single sheet of paper, and then asks him to copy (something he was told to never do). The art teacher is a little more sympathetic and works within the rules to allow him room to grow.
books_n_pickles's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Cute, autobiograpgical picture book from a beloved children's author. I'm sure some parents will gripe that Tommy breaks rules and still gets what he wants in the end: to use his own special crayons to draw an original picture in art class instead of copying the art teacher's example using school supplies. But for those who can get past that, here's a story of a boy whose love for drawing is all over his life, whose friends admire his work, with adults who teach him boundaries--no drawing on sheets or walls, do the class work first--while appreciating his talent.
snowelf's review against another edition
2.0
I like the pictures fine but something about the story rubbed me the wrong way. In fact, I found most of it quite irrelevant, detailed facts about an experience the author had with an art teacher during his childhood. Not sure what the message is aside from you-may-run-into-stupid-people-in-life and don't think kids will care all that much. I mean, it's great that he pulled through it, but what exactly is he trying to communicate to children with this book?
thereadingknitter's review against another edition
3.0
Cute children's book...I had to do 10 book critques for school and this was one of them.
rlaferney's review against another edition
5.0
A sweet little story about how Tomie became an artist. As a young kid, who was constantly creating myself, I could relate.
kienie's review against another edition
3.0
My student didn't really like this book, mostly because she didn't care for the subject matter. I liked the art, but I felt that the book would've worked better as a comic book, because that is what it basically was already.