Publishers Weekly
This installment in the series set at 26 Fairmount Avenue finds Tomie enjoying a new sled, going to see Fantasia, celebrating a traditional Italian Easter and struggling to understand what is happening in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Ages 7-up. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-The fifth installment in the series is delightful. The story starts in January, 1941. Each chapter begins with a diary entry while the first-person text fleshes out the boy's memorable experiences such as a special dance recital, sledding on his Junior Flexible Flyer, and seeing Walt Disney's Fantasia for the first time. DePaola's distinctive black-and-white illustrations add humor and child appeal. The book's title comes from the last chapter in which the author remembers the impact on his family of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Children who remember 9/11 will identify with his feeling that "things will never be the same." A welcome addition to any easy chapter-book collection.-Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Another in the utterly engaging series in which dePaola recounts his own childhood; this one ends on a somewhat darker note. Tomie (whose teachers still insist on calling him Tommy) seems to recall, in pitch-perfect language and tone, just what it was like to be the kid he was. He begins his story in January 1941 with an entry in his new diary and the joys of riding his new Junior Flexible Flyer down a steep hill in his Connecticut town. He tells one of his mother's sledding stories, too; recounts Easter at Nana Fall-River's (and the horrors of car sickness); and being a pirate in the dance recital. When he starts second grade, he is thrilled to have a real art teacher, who understands that real artists don't copy, and they need to use all the colors in the box. Tomie ends on a sober note, however, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, when the adults hear on the news that Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor, and that war has come. His wonderful black-and-white drawings illuminate the text, and there are pages from his diary (with illustrations of their own) included. This child cherished his life-even the scary parts, like the presence of polio or the giant Ferris wheel-and young readers will find enormous resonance with their own experiences across the decades of time. (Chapter book. 7-10)
