Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
St. Patrick’s Day in the morning
Illustrator: Jan Brett
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 8
Clarion, 1983 ISBN: 978-0899191621
Little Jamie Donovan is the first person to wake up on St. Patrick’s Day morning. He goes downstairs and he sees the sashes that his older brothers and father will be wearing in the parade later that day. Jamie is very upset because he has been told that he cannot walk in the parade yet because he is too young. Well, “what do they know?” Jamie thinks and he goes out wearing one of the sashes, his father’s bowler hat, and his mother’s long raincoat. Jamie is determined to show everyone that he is more than capable of marching up Acorn Hill on St. Patrick’s Day.
So up the hill Jamie goes in his one boy parade with only the dog Nell for company. He plays his brother’s flute and when the going gets tough he encourages himself and the dog to keep on going. Jamie is going to be in the parade no matter what.
This charming picture book is not only a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, but it is also a portrait of a child who is tired of being told that he is too young to do something. Any young reader who has been in a similar position will identify with Jamie at once and will enjoy the way in which Jamie, in the end, gets his own way.
