Quentin Fenton Herter III
By Amy MacDonald
Illustrated by Giselle Potter
Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux
Ages 4-9 years
• Kirkus Review starred review
• Winner of Oppenheim Gold Award
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What’s it about?
Quentin Fenton Herter THIRD “was seldom seen and never heard./He always did what he should ought/and NEVER did what he should not.” This Quentin cleans his plate and always remembers to say please. But Quentin has a shadow–“never good and always bad.” Quentin’s shadow spills his pudding on the floor and writes with crayon on the door. “Oh he was bad as bad can be,/was Quentin Fenton Herter THREE.” The two Quentins dislike each other, until one afternoon when something very unexpected happens right in the middle of a fancy tea party. The result should delight both good (and naughty) children alike.
Where did the idea come from?
My mother once confessed to me she wanted to write a story about a little boy who was so good that he bored his mother to tears. She and I came up with the first line of the story together many years ago.
Anything else?
Strangely enough, my own two sons are a little like the two Quentins.
What have the reviewers said?
“MacDonald’s dazzling verse, as clever as Scheherezade, is a beautiful choreography of words….It’s all very merry, with the illustrations providing an unending source of enjoyment while the verse positively scoots along…Laughter will shower down upon readers.” —Kirkus Review (starred review)
“Rollicking…delicious” —Horn Book
“The smoothly flowing text is a joy to read aloud, and it’s all very funny.” —School Library Journal
“MacDonald’s rambunctious romp of a rhyming story…is great fun to read aloud, and Potter’s pictures are commensurately wacky and gleeful.” —Booklist