



Once again, David Shannon entertains us with young David's mischievous antics and a lighthearted story that's sure to leave kids-and parents-laughing.ĭavid Shannon is the award-winning writer and illustrator of many books for young readers, including 'How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball' (1994), a New York Times Best Illustrated book: and 'The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza' (1995), an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. Soon, though, David realizes that making excuses makes him feel bad, and saying he's sorry makes him feel better. And no matter what he's done "wrong," it's never really his fault. Whatever the situation, David's got a good excuse. "NO! It's not my fault! I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"

Ages 2-up.When David gets in trouble, he always says. This dead-on take on childhood shenanigans ends on a high note, with the penitent David (he broke a vase with a baseball) enfolded in his mother's arms as she assures him, "Yes, David, I love you." Readers won't be able to resist taking a walk on the wild side with this little rascal, and may only secretly acknowledge how much of him they recognize in themselves. While Shannon gives David the purposeful look of a child's crude drawings, his background settings (the kitchen sideboard, a toy-littered TV room) are fully rendered, effectively evoking the boy's sense of displacement. Meanwhile, all those timeless childhood phrases echo in the background: "Come back here!" "Be quiet!" "Not in the house, David!" and most vigorously-"No!" Shannon's pen whisks over the double-page spreads in a flurry of energy, as he gains perspective on an image of a bare-bottomed David cavorting down a quiet suburban street or closes in on the boy's face as he inserts a finger into his triangle nose, his button eyes tense with concentration, and perfectly round head looming larger than the pages. In this boisterous exploration of naughtiness, Shannon (How Georgie Radbourne Saved Baseball) lobs one visual zinger after another as David, a little dickens, careens from one unruly deed to the next-coloring on the walls, tracking mud all over the carpet, jumping on the bed in red cowboy boots.
