No Friends

By James Stevenson

Worried that they won't make friends in their new neighborhood, Mary Ann and Louie listen to Grandpa reminisce about the new friends he and his brother made when he moved to another neighborhood. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688065066
• ISBN13: 9780688065065
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.3" x 10.5"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Grandpa and Wainey to the Rescue!

James Stevenson's "Grampa and Wainey" books may follow the same general pattern, but it's a completely winning template that he fills with all kinds of outrageous fun. Act 1, Scene 1 usually beings like this: Louie and his sister Mary Ann vist Grandpa, usually sitting on the porch with a newspaper. The two siblings complain loudly about some misfortune. In "No Friends," they've moved to a new neighborhood, one that's "lonely and awful," one with "no friends." Grandpa remarks how this reminds him of a similar situation encountered by him and his brother Wainey (more about him, later) when THEY were kids. (As he begins to narrate a flashback about what happened to him and Wainey--which makes up most of the story--Grandpa invariably raises his eyebrows, slyly signaling to the reader that the following reminiscence may not be entirely true.) Grandpa's uses a kind of poetic license to make his past seem WAY worse than Louie and Mary Ann's current situation. For example, Grandpa's new neighborhood was "so lonely that Wainey and I talked to our reflections in the ice." It was "cold and ugly" and "the wind was always blowing in different directions." In a brief but inspired bit of slapstick, Stevenson pictures Wainey blowing by young Grandpa in one direction, and then, in the next panel, passing young Grandpa going the other! Other extravagant (yet somewhat plausible) situations ensue, each casually but evocatively drawn panel building on the humor of the previous one, and most with a kind of "but it gets even worse" theme. (Perhaps it's no wonder that another popular Stevenson series centers around a a Walter Matthau-like funny/grumpy character named "The Worst.") According to Grandpa's recollection, however, the worst neighborhood problem is the "RUMBO GANG," known best by their graffiti. Well, the Rumbo "GANG" is one lonely boy, Wally Rumbo, and his dog! Although the book could have concluded with the three boys becoming friends, Stevenson gets even more outlandish. On their way home, young Grandpa and Wainey meet the real town bullies (they use Wainey as a football), but the "Rumbo Gang" rescues them. Then, in another slice of "over the top" (literally) humor, Wainey is thrown off his bike (he's not hurt) and sails above the town, bouncing off awnings and attracting the attention and eventual friendship of just about every kid in town ("What a bouncer!" "Where do you live?"). Returning to the present, Mary Ann and Louie find friends as well, helped just a little by Grandpa's offer of ice cream, and a surprise visit by--Uncle Wainey! Yes, I love these books. Hopefully some of the humor has been conveyed here. While longer than Stevenson's typical work, the story and structure mesh perfectly, as the situations become increasingly outlandish. Stevenson's signature style graces the entire book. The combination of the absurdly funny content with Grandpa's flat delivery works well, and Stevenson's whimsy shows in complementary illustr