The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister

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In The Press
Publishers Weekly

Lodding makes her children’s book debut with an addition to the growing bookshelf of titles about overbooked and overworked children. And like many of its predecessors, its message is more for the parents making the schedules and paying for the after-school classes than for kids who, like Ernestine, innately know that bouncing on a trampoline and playing imaginary games outside beats an exhausting week packed with organized activities. Both Lodding and Beaky (the Hailey Twitch series) deploy abundant humor to make the story’s earnest message more palatable. Lodding’s prose is studded with punny quips and names (Ernestine’s instructors include sculptor Clay Lumpkin, yodeling expert Little Old Lady Hoo, and yoga guru Prakash Pretzel). For her part, Beaky provides acrylic caricatures that really take off once Ernestine and her nanny start to mix up her schedule (Ernestine is seen playing tuba during swim lessons and accidentally giving her knitting teacher a karate kick) and when Ernestine’s parents try to track her down after Ernestine and Nanny O’Dear play hooky on a grassy hilltop. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)

Children's Literature

Ernestine's next-door neighbor Hugo invites her to play after school. But poor Ernestine has every day of the week scheduled for her by her overeager parents. From sculpting and water ballet to yodeling, karate, and yoga, Ernestine goes frantically from lesson to lesson, supervised efficiently in most cases by Nanny O'Dear. And each day she wistfully watches Hugo happily playing. Finally Ernestine schedules something new for her and Nanny: a day of fun in the park. When it is reported to her parents that she has missed a lesson, they rush from one of her classes to another trying to find her. Exhausted, they begin to realize why Ernestine always looks so pale. And the whole family reconsiders their lives and schedules. The humorous text, replete with names like sculpture teacher Clay Lumpkin and karate Grand Master HiYa, holds a serious lesson for over scheduling parents. Ernestine's unhappiness is clear on the jacket, where Beaky's acrylic paintings show her pulling a wagon filled with equipment for her lessons, while she sorrowfully eyeballs Hugo at play and Nanny checks the schedule. Not quite cartoons, the characters are more doll-like with naturalistic bodies and large, expressive eyes. Full and double-page scenes of action set the stage for each activity, with characters designed to add to the humor. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2—Ernestine has a full schedule. Every day after school, she has a different lesson with a different teacher. Mondays, it's sculpting with Clay Lumpkin. Tuesdays, water ballet with Miss Goldfisher. On Sundays, Ernestine has yoga with Guru Prakash Pretzel. During one of her meditation sessions, she has an idea. She convinces her Nanny O'Dear to play in the grass on the hilltop with her. When her parents finally catch up with the pair, she talks them into slowing the pace a bit. Beautiful acrylic illustrations in vibrant colors show the child's myriad activities and frenzied lifestyle. However, the story seems to be written more for parents than children. Taking time to play without a schedule is one of the overarching themes here, but Ernestine seems to realize this all along.—Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Kirkus Reviews

What does it mean to "live life to the fullest"?

Young Ernestine Buckmeister's parents pack her schedule, with a different activity daily after school, with yoga and karate on the weekend. They've even hired brusque Nanny O'Dear to keep her on schedule. As mother says, "Make every moment count!" Ernestine has no time to play, though it's clear from her longing looks at neighbor Hugo and his soccer ball that she wants to. The big schedule board that covers a wall of her bedroom fills her with dismay. One afternoon, Ernestine rushes out the door past Nanny, shouting, "Today I scheduled something new!" It's a trip to the park, to play with other kids. When the yodeling teacher calls home to report Ernestine's absence, the news sends her parents into a tizzy. They visit all her activities, from knitting to water ballet to tuba practice. Just following in their daughter's footsteps exhausts the Buckmeisters, and, when they spot her in the distance, they barely have enough energy to trudge up a hill to meet her. Both Ernestine and Nanny seem happy and renewed. From that day forward, sometimes it's activities, and sometimes..."she just played." There's great energy in both Lodding's storytelling and Beaky's bright acrylic illustrations.

The valuable lesson is all the more effective for being shown, and not preached—though perhaps it's meant more for adults than the children they are reading to. (Picture book. 5-7)