HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRYSTAL

by Shirley Gordon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 1981

Gordon's third story about Susan and her zippier school friend Crystal has Susan arriving expectantly at Crystal's for the birthday party (""I've never been to Crystal's house before"") and then being deflated bit by bit by the obviously familiar presence of Crystal's next-door friend Sherri. Crystal and Sherri communicate by tin-can telephone and ""borrow our things back and forth all the time."" Sherri knows just where to find Crystal's scissors, and she's adept at dishing out Crystal's ice cream and cake. At a party of only three, Susan sometimes feels forgotten. But Crystal is a good friend, and her birthday wish--that the two lived closer--makes things okay. Gordon projects Susan's common discomfort sympathetically, without exaggeration and without any mean, competitive, or exclusivist behavior on anyone's part. Frascino's cartoons make the birthday doings easy to picture and the feelings similarly clear but unexaggerated.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1981

Categories: CHILDREN'S