Advanced Literature for Children

Review of OLD MACDONALD HAD AN APARTMENT HOUSE

Barrett, Judi. Old MacDonald had an Apartment House. Ron Barrett, illustrator. New York: Atheneum, 1969,

Rather than reread and review one of my favorite picture books and a favorite of my students I decided to read another title by the famous team that brought us CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS.

It takes a very special book to carry it’s own against a childhood classic but “Old MacDonald” is a fine book. The cover shows Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald in the pose of American Gothic but instead of a pitchfork, Mr. MacDonald is holding a broom and Mrs. MacDonald’s hair is in a modern updo that resembles a beanie cap. In the background is no pastoral landscape but a large brownstone apartment building. Mr. MacDonald is the Super of the complex and our story begins when the Mrs. has a sad, droopy tomato plant that can’t grow in a healthy manner because of the shrubbery outside their window that keeps the sun out. Mr. MacDonald destroys the shrubs and the focus of our story is begins as the tomato plant becomes healthy and is transplanted to grow outside the window. Mr. MacDonald continues to remove shrubbery and plant vegetables in their wake. A Romanesque statue holding a Grecian urn becomes a self watering pea patch. One family becomes empty nesters and moves out of their 4 room apartment and Old MacDonald moves in soil and proceeds to redecorate in “Late Vegetarian style.” Carrots grow through a tenant’s roof and sweet potato vines grow through the bathroom sink. Tenants get upset and leave but Mr. MacDonald soon begins to see that they are much less trouble than human tenants. Finally a field of clover is planted in one floor and a cow is added. Next comes a chicken. “Fat Mr. Wrental” becomes upset because he is receiving no rent money but he comes up with a compromise business, “Wrental and MacDonald’s Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh Milk and Eggs Hourly.” Even in the winter “when the earth outside was frozen and covered with snow, things were still growing on the steam-heated farm.”

It is hard to say which is more important, the text or the illustrations. They present a unified front and a striking marriage. The graphite line drawings are black and white throughout except for the vegetables that are shaded in with bright colors: peach colored cantaloupes, maroon radishes, green cabbages, orange carrots and tomatoes and red apples, Ron Barrett seems to effortlessly create movement in his drawings and portrays the city in a realistic fashion, full of eclectically dressed people of different nationalities. There is great attention to detail and realism in the artwork with an oval covered walkway and a doorman in uniform, the landlord puffing on a large cigar, people with all types of hats. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is a hard act to follow but Old MacDonald is a well done and enjoyable undertaking.