The Day the Picture Man Came - Hardcover

K-Gr. 2. In drawling mountain dialect, freckle-faced, pouting Emily Howard recounts the mayhem that occurs on the day traveling photographer Cecil Bramlett arrives at the family farm. It's tricky to spruce up Ma, Pa, and the five Howard "young uns" and settle them down together; it's trickier still to round up the cat, two dogs, and Peter the goat (who faints when scared). Just when Mr. Bramlett is poised to shoot, the goat grabs Ma's hat. Ma shrieks, and Peter faints in fright. When all is readied again, Peter nibbles Kitty's tail; Kitty runs up the tree, and the goat faints again! The slapstick gets funnier and funnier, encouraged by Meidell's watercolors, which delightfully exaggerate the animals' antics and the humans' reactions. A dignified, sepia-tone family portrait emerges at last--alongside a second picture that captures the family members as they hiss, wiggle, and prepare to faint dead away. Evident in both photos is Emily who, having been called pretty and smart by the photographer, exhibits a newfound contentment with herself, reflected in a broad smile replacing the pout that first creased her freckles. A rollicking, laugh-out-loud read. Ellen Mandel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Emily Howard, a barefooted and freckle-faced "young'un" living in the Georgia mountains, is having a bad day until a horse and wagon bring an itinerant photographer to the front porch. All of her siblings want their pets to be included in the family portrait but Mama says no-to no avail. Getting everyone arranged and in place turns out to be a disaster as the animals act up in a general scene of noisy mischief and mayhem. The solution is two pictures, one with just the family and one of the Howards with their animals. And Emily is happy. The story is slight and the watercolor illustrations lack finesse and sparkle. A so-so slice of Americana.
Susan Pine, New York Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.