26 Fairmount Avenue (26 Fairmount Avenue, #1) by Tomie dePaola

26 Fairmount Avenue (26 Fairmount Avenue, #1) Reviews

• 
  Julie

  PERFECT for my two five-year-olds.
  
  Each chapter is a vignette. Each story is simple enough, real enough, silly or interesting enough with out every being facile.
  
  Well balanced. Well written. Drawings on every page.
  
  And it's autobiographical! Which is cool because I love Tomie dePaola and now I get to love him more.
• 
  Lisa Vegan

  This book has 9 chapters and 57 pages, not counting the 1 page author’s note. This is a perfect book for those just beginning to read chapter books and it also would work fine as a read aloud book, including and maybe especially for siblings of different ages.
  
  This is DePaola’s first book in a series of illustrated autobiographical books, and he writes so engagingly. I got a kick out of so much, and particularly enjoyed a couple things about Tomie’s first day of school. Hilarious!
  
  I’m sure I’d have loved these books when I was a child. Today’s children, especially if they love historical fiction and history, will hopefully appreciate them too.
  
  The illustrations are in black & white and very appealing and, as with the book’s text, very accessible. Kids are going to be able to imagine themselves in Tomie’s place and even drawing Tomie’s drawings, though most not quite as skillfully.
  
  I’m now curious about what happens next and might end up reading the other books in the series.
• 
  Jordan Taylor

  This charming little chapter book, perfect for beginning readers, is a sort of children's classic of the late 1990's.
  Growing up, I just loved Tomie dePaola's books and illustrations, and so many of them still to this day sweep me away in fond nostalgia.
  This book is an autobiography of dePaola's childhood. It's full of wonder and curiosity and memorable little moments. There are plenty of little stories that are incredibly memorable and endearing - for example, Tomie's outrage at seeing the original Disney "Snow White" film has left out parts of the story. Another favorite was when Tomie goes to kindergarten and ends up having a discussion with the principal, namely, to ask when he will get to learn to read. When the principal informs him that kindergarteners don't learn reading yet, and that's for next year in 1st grade, Tomie says "Fine. I'll be back next year," and walks out!
  Tomie is instantly likable with his runaway imagination, witty commentary on his life and family, and his comparisons of everyday things to literary or vintage movie characters.
  I love that young readers who have potentially already been reading and loving his books for younger children would be able to make the step into more advanced chapter books getting an insight into the writer and illustrator's life. The book is the first in a series.
  dePaola said that he was always intimidated at the idea of writing a chapter book, as compared to his other works that rely on his wonderful illustrations and sparse writing. It wasn't until his agent suggested that he write about his own childhood memories that he became inspired to branch out, resulting in "26 Fairmount Avenue."
• 
  Eileen W

  Read with my girls, ages 11 and 8. We love Tomie dePaola's books (like Strega Nona), and this one is about his life as a boy around the year 1940. My girls were excited to see Shirley Temple was mentioned. :-) We liked the little stories of his life. A nice, wholesome read.
• 
  Pam

  This book is a glimpse into a family's life for about a year in the late 1930's. The author,Tomie DePaola, tells this story from a child's perspective, specifically as though he is peering back through his five year old eyes. It centers on his and his family's feelings of anticipation as they await their house on 26 Fairmont Ave. being built, and then finally their excitement of moving into this house they would have as a family for their remaining time of living together.
  Though a simple story line in general, DePaola has little stories within each chapter that give you just enough bait at the end of each chapter to keep you wanting to read on. Also, the simple values of family and respect shine through as a message in between. Finally, his artwork brings out the characters where words don't.
• 
  Becca

  This was dePaola's first chapter book. Our family has read a number of his picture books, both the fiction and the non-fiction, and we absolutely loved reading more about his magical childhood. Now and then he would mention certain happenings that were the focus of his shorter pictures books, which was fun to finally read them in context. He has such vivid memories and tells them in a very entertaining way. I would say that, to my children, he is almost family. This book in particular has made me want to tap into my past to find my own magic. I'm convinced that everyone could write their own "26 Fairmount Avenue." This book won a Newberry Honor.
• 
  Natalie

  Easy to read just not terribly exciting. Even if I was reading with a small kid I wouldn’t recommend this book. Not sure what makes it so special to win a Newberry Honor either.
• 
  Elyse Hayes

  Utterly charming memoir. I heard Tomie dePaola interviewed last year during a Catholic Library Association conference, and he pointed to this series of autobiographical books about his childhood as his favorites among his own books. Written as short "chapter books" for young readers, adults can enjoy them, too. (This is just the first in a series.) He captures the viewpoint of a child, and we get to see what a"live wire" he was as a child - impatient, and full of life and love for most of his relatives (except his brother). And of course, he illustrated them in his inimitable style. Really fun.
• 
  Candice

  I have a kid who will do you a favor if you agree to tie him in a chair. I know, it sounds like preparation for a future story of childhood trauma. Thankfully, he just loved this book and he wants to be like little Tomie who joined his frail Nana Upstairs in being tied into her chair to keep her safe.
  
  I can hear my children laughing as we read about Tommy and Nana Upstairs mistakenly eating laxatives that they thought were chocolate.
  
  The story is simple, but it reminds you that everything that happens in a child’s world is interesting and new.
  
• 
  Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)

  Very much for the younger reader, short and sweet. A good read-aloud with a child you love, it brought back memories of the "city's" arbitrary dealings in terms of roadworks or the lack thereof in the little rural town where I was born, and early memories of my mother's house being "finished" after a fashion by my dad and his cronies. I also remember being hauled out of a couple of Disney movies in disgrace--Cruella deVille traumatised me for life.
• 
  Lisa D

  Loved it! What an amazing biographical chapter book!
• 
  Julie

  I read these with my kids years ago. Recently a Goodreads friend read through the series and I wanted to revisit. Just as enjoyable reading them on my own.
• 
  Luci

  Such a delightful story about a big event in a kids life: moving into a house of your own!
• 
  Coffeecups

  4.8 stars
• 
  Stephanie

  A fun, easy read. The kids immediately asked for more “Tomie stories” so we’re hoping to get hold of the other books in the series!
• 
  Tatiana

  Sometimes an author's life provides perfect fodder for a book, better than anything that could be made up. Tomie dePaola has one of those lives.
  
  26 Fairmount Avenue chronicles the year it took to build the dePaolo's new house. It also features snippets from Tomie's world of extended family, neighborhood kids, and school. Tomie's first day of kindergarten was by far the best thing I have read in years. The kid had GUTS.
  
  I love the mood created in this short chapter book. I love that it's memoir; the author has sublime restraint when doling out his recollections. I am looking forward to reading the whole series.
• 
  Luann

  I'm reading this aloud to all of my library classes, so by the end of this week I will have read it eleven times - not including the times I had already read it to myself. Tomie de Paola does such a great job of telling his story in a sweet, simple manner with the perfect amount of interesting details. My favorite chapter tells all about the first time he saw the first full-length animated movie, Mr. Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I love young Tomie's reaction as he realizes that Mr. Walt Disney must not have read the story carefully enough because he left out some of the story and used the ending of Sleeping Beauty.
• 
  Amanda

  Perhaps we've been spoiled with the children's fantasy we've been reading together lately, but my 6 year old and I found this book to be very dull.
  I understand that it's autobiographical, and targeted at a young audience, but it just felt incredibly tired and flat.
• 
  Jen

  Read this to Sarah, felt like a waste of time. Kept waiting for something really good to happen or for a good moral. Soooo many other books to choose from, just skip this one.
• 
  Chance Lee

  A chapter book memoir with a stunning economy of language and charming illustrations to punctuate the succinct text.
• 
  Matthew

  Just finished reading 25 FAIRMOUNT AVENUE, written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola, published in 1999, and a Newbery Honor book.
  
  I only really know Tomie dePaola from his famous children's picture book, STREGA NONA, which back in the day I had the book and cassette tape with Dom Deluise reading it aloud. I remember listening and following along with that book many times during my childhood, so this was a pleasant surprise coming across dePaola's first chapter book.
  
  It's the first in a series of chapter books dePaola wrote in response to his fans asking him to write a chapter book. Not knowing what to write about dePaola finally set on writing a series of autobiographical books based on his own childhood.
  
  It's about a young Tomie dePaola and his family while they wait for their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue to be built. There's the hurricane of 1938, the first day of kindergarten, seeing the movie Snow White for the first time, and being disappointed it didn't match the original fairy tale.
  
  The best chapter though had to do with one of Tomie's grandmothers who was tied to a chair so she wouldn't fall off and how Tomie searched for candy, coming across some in the bathroom. I won't give it away, but it did give me a chuckle.
  
  It's just a collection of short chapters of the life and time of little Tomie dePaola. Nothing extravagant. Just simple fun. I do wish it had been longer. But it's geared towards maybe early elementary. Coming in at only fifty-seven pages, it's a very slim read. But still enjoyable. 26 FAIRMOUNT AVENUE, by Tomie dePaola. My rating - 3/5 stars.
• 
  Linda Spear

  Tomie (pronounced Tommy-I don't think I ever knew that) DePaola has been a favorite illustrator and storyteller in my years as a children's librarian. When he died this year, I decided to read the series "26 Fairmount Ave" in his memory. These are not his usual picture books even though there are many drawings. A charming series about his early life with family, friends, school, WWII. One sees where his ideas for his picture books and tales came from, especially "Tom", "Oliver Button is a Sissy", "The Art Lesson", "The Baby Sister", and "Watch Out For the Chicken Feet in Your Soup". What a treasure to the illustrating world he was! And so proud of his ancestry; Italian, Irish, Catholic, all of which are related in his work. This series would be so engaging if read by an adult to a child, especially an older adult who might have similar memories and reactions to Tomie's. Can you all tell I loved these books? And I was reminded again of why I am so attracted to books by Patricia Polacco, Allen Say, Patricia McKissack, Barbara Cooney, Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard, and going way back, Riki Levinson for "Watch the Stars Come Out" and "I Go With my Family to Grandma's". I must get off my soap box now. Tomie, see what you caused?
• 
  Rachel

  Children's Lit read.
  
  I liked it! It was cute. The stories he told about his first day of kindergarten and seeing Snow White in theaters were very funny.
  
  I would give this 5 stars, but I just didn't love how abruptly it seemed to end. I mean, it wasn't an unsatisfying ending, but it just left me wanting more. I know he does have a whole series of autobiographical books, but I guess I just kinda thought he'd compile them all into one book. But since he's a children's author, he probably didn't want to publish such a long book. (Hopefully, somewhere out there is an edition that takes all the books in the series and combines them into one book. THAT I'd like to read. If not, maybe then I'll just find myself picking up the rest of the series sometime down the road. For someone who never wrote a chapter book before, DePaola is pretty darn good at it.)
• 
  Lynn A. Davidson

  This book is a Newbery Honor Book winner.
  
  This is a chapter book - nine short chapters. The author wrote about his life in Connecticut when his family was preparing to move to the house they were building. He makes the story very interesting, capturing what his feelings were with disappointments when things kept happening to delay the completion and eventual move into their new house.
  He told about the destructive hurricane of 1938, the same year they started building their house. He told about his two grandmothers, his great-grandmother, and his grandfather. He told about the first time he got to go to a movie theatre and how annoyed he was that Mr. Walt Disney had changed the story to fit his movie!
  The story is told in a young boy's voice with humour, dignity and honesty.