Summary: In this book, Camilla worries too much about
what other people think. She likes lima
beans, but she doesn’t want to admit it.
Eventually, it leads to a bad case of stripes, where she transforms into
what others around her think or want. It
leads to such a distraction that she’s asked not to go to school. Doctors only make the situation worse by
giving her medicine, which turns her into a pill, or by turning her into her
room when she visualizes herself.
Eventually, a sweet old lady convinces Camilla to be herself, lima beans
and all, and she’s cured. Impression: I love when stories illustrate an important
life lesson. This was great for showing
kids the importance of being themselves, no matter what others may think. Suggestions
for library setting: This book would
be perfect for teaching theme. It lends
itself to the concept beautifully. It
could be used with the social issues unit to open a discussion about all of the
ways people try to fit in with their peers and the traps that often ensnare
them.
Shannon, David.
(1998). A bad case of stripes. New York: Blue
Sky.
A
highly original moral tale acquires mythic proportions when Camilla Cream
worries too much about what others think of her and tries desperately to please
everyone. First stripes, then stars and stripes, and finally anything anyone
suggests (including tree limbs, feathers, and a tail) appear vividly all over
her body. The solution: lima beans, loved by Camilla, but disdained for fear
they'll promote unpopularity with her classmates. Shannon's exaggerated,
surreal, full-color illustrations take advantage of shadow, light, and shifting
perspective to show the girl's plight. Bordered pages barely contain the energy
of the artwork; close-ups emphasize the remarkable characters that inhabit the
tale. Sly humor lurks in the pictures, too. For example, in one double-page
spread the Creams are besieged by the media including a crew from station WCKO.
Despite probing by doctors and experts, it takes än old woman who was just as
plump and sweet as a strawberry" to help Camilla discover her true colors.
Set in middle-class America, this very funny tale speaks to the challenge many
kids face in choosing to act independently.
Noah, C. (1998). A bad case of stripes (Book Review).
School Library Journal, 44(3), 188.
A
BAD CASE OF STRIPES Camilla Cream wants to fit in, so she conforms, denying
herself the things she craves--lima beans, for example--if the other kids frown
upon them. She wakes up one morning covered head to toe with party-colored
stripes--not the state of affairs aspired to by a conventionalist, but it's
only the beginning of her troubles. Her schoolmates call out designs and
Camilla's skin reacts: polka dots, the American flag--``poor Camilla was
changing faster than you could change channels on a T.V.'' Specialists are
called in, as are experts, healers, herbalists, and gurus. An environmental
therapist suggests she ``breathe deeply, and become one with your room.''
Camilla melts into the wall. It takes a little old lady with a handful of lima
beans to set Camilla to rights. Shannon's story is a good poke in the eye of
conformity--imaginative, vibrant, and at times good and spooky--and his
emphatic, vivid artwork keeps perfect pace with the tale.
A
bad case of stripes. (December 15,
1997). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from:http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-shannon/a-bad-case-of-stripes/
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