June 15, 2003
Muppet Book Club
"The Case of the Missing Mother"
Book : Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3
Stop Making Sense
Danny
Horn:
What's the lesson of this book? "Missing Mother" seems like a less explicitly educational book than "Cookie Tree," but there must be some underlying message for children that justifies why they wrote the thing in the first place.
I guess the message is that you should keep your mother on a short leash, because mothers tend to wander off if you take your eyes off them for a minute.
Or maybe: If your son hasn't come to visit you for a while, don't try to contact him; just sit around and wait for him to organize a search party.
Or, possibly: If you have a problem, make a big fuss about it -- cry and scream, trash bowling alleys, dig holes in the ground -- and all your friends will rally around and help you. I wish I'd read this book as a kid, I had to learn that lesson the hard way.
Chris Smigliano:
Why DID Animal bury his mother?
Seems like somebody told him he should put his mother IN a home, but instead he put her UNDER one.
Mike Cervantes:
And then she moved because of the movement of tectonic plates under the earth.
Michelle:
I was truly impressed by Animal's "acting" in this book. His anguished facial expressions just made me feel so bad for him.
I wasn't happy with how LaVerne looked; the bows were stupid. Perhaps if there was just one or two bows as opposed to a whole bunch of them.
How come she doesn't need to be chained up? Sounds like Animal is a slave to the Man. If I were LaVerne, I'd beat up all the Muppets that kept my son chained up just so he could play in their band.
Danny
Horn:
The more that I think about it, I realize that this book simply does not hold up to a moment's scrutiny. There's not a single thing about it that makes logical sense.
Why does Janice think the pile of desk detritus in the place where the desk used to be is made of crumbs?
Why is the bowling alley on a dirt road, and why is it located in an unmarked garage?
Why does LaVerne use the "to be" verb in some sentences -- "I will be living at" -- and not in others -- "Our house too big for me now"?
Why the hole? Why the broken chair? Why is Beauregard carrying a tree?
I think it's possible that this book is a test, and we may be failing. There must be some higher purpose to it that we're just not understanding with our puny minds. This book only makes sense in eight dimensions.
Where's Wallace?
Julia Noomen:
Don't like this book. I can't really put my finger on it, but it just doesn't appeal to me. It has no real message, it's a bit too simple, and it's definitely not exciting. Also, I don't like the illustrations. I don't like the colors, don't like the style, and somehow everyone seems too long to me.
Animal escaped, and we see he broke his chains. Now, I can handle Animal being out of control and having chains around his neck and arms, but somehow that seemed sort of rock and roll to me. Being confronted -- in a children's book! -- with an Animal that is always chained to the wall of his room somehow frightened and saddened me.
To make matters even worse, the simple story is FULL of plotholes. It is rather convenient that Animal lost the last line of his mom's letter -- where did that go? Did he tear it off himself? Sherlock Hemlock's better go and find the person who tried to sabotage Animal's family reunion by tearing off that piece of address.
Also, if Animal's mom values their family bond that much, why doesn't she look him up more often? She knows where he is, after all. Which leads me to believe that maybe Mom tore off that last piece of paper herself before she sent it out to Animal, because she wouldn't want to be found. Which would also make a much more interesting story...
Tom
Holste:
I never really wanted to know about Animal's mom. I think Animal and his family are just completely wild, never thinking about each other, but totally happy. Reading this book, I actually felt depressed for Animal for the first time, and it was an icky feeling. I didn't want to read about this traumatic incident in his life any more than I'd want to read about the Swedish Chef going through a messy divorce or the Muppet Newsman losing his home.
And what is it with children's story authors being so obsessed with lost/enstranged/dead parentage? At the author's age in life, it's probably a big deal, and if you're a kid from a broken family, maybe books like these are helpful. But when I was a kid, I was concerned about playing with my toys, wondering whether other kids on the schoolground liked me, and homework. I wasn't the least concerned with finding my cultural heritage, as books/stories/Disney films would have you think.
Danny
Horn:
I don't know if it's an obsession with estranged parents here as much as an obsession with finding something that's lost.
Along with "The Case of the Missing Mother," there's also "The Case of the Missing Hat" with Fozzie and Robin, a Sesame book called "The Case of the Missing Rubber Duckie," and a story in the Sesame ABC Storybook called "The Case of the Missing Letter."
Finding something that's lost probably is a big issue for toddlers; they lose stuff all the time. The fact that in this case it's a Mom instead of an object just ups the stakes.
Isha Matos:
I lost my glasses. I put them on the bedside table, and the next morning they were gone. So I'm stuck wearing an old prescription. Which brings me to my question: Why do they always call these things "The Case of the Missing..."
I mean, unless these books actually include a detective, or they make reference to some kind of detective work, it seems kind of silly. I'm not going around saying, "Oh, it's the case of the missing glasses!"
Tom
Holste:
Good question -- except in my case, of course. If I realize something is missing, whether I'm all by myself or in a crowded public place, I immediately declare, "It's the case of the missing -------!" I then put on my Sherlock hat and begin walking around looking for the object with a large eyeglass. Sometimes I've just lost my pen on my desk and I find it again in two seconds, but overall I find the process to be quite useful. The eyeglass is also helpful, even if I'm in a parking lot and can't remember where I parked my car.
Why do I do this? Because I always do what my Sesame Street and Muppet books tell me.
Ryan Roe:
Believe it or not, when I went to my parents' house to look for my old copy of "The Case of the Missing Rubber Duckie," I couldn't find it.
So I should write a book called "The Case of the Missing 'The Case of the Missing Rubber Duckie'."
Book : Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3
Commentary : Part 4 -- Part 5
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Muppet Book Club: "Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree"