Mama Don't Allow 25th Anniversary Edition

by Thacher Hurd and Edith Thacher Hurd

Book Overview

Saxophone-playing Miles and his Swamp Band find a bevy of sharp-toothed, long-tailed alligators who love to listen to their music. But little do Miles and his band know what the alligators plan for them at the close of their jubilant all-night ball! Inspired by a traditional song, this vibrant picture book is "ebullient, fast-paced, and funny."

1985 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Illustration
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Children's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064430782
• ISBN13: 9780064430784
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 9.5" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

mama don't allow

Hi, today I'm going to tell you about a geat book I just read. It is call ''Mama Don't Allow'' . The book is about some kids that live in Swampville and want to be in a band together. They called their self the Swamp Band .The Swamp Band playes for the alligators.But I won't tell the ending.The lesson in the is do what say and you won't get hurt. I feel this is a good book for anyone. Ilove the book it was great.The end.

An irresistible tale for young children

Every parent knows that children depend on certain books being read to them ritualistically nearly every evening at bedtime. This was for a very long time one of those books for my daughter and me. The story is delightful. Miles lives in a swamp and loves to play music. But his mother hates his music, and chases him away from the house whenever he plays. Going further into the swamp, he finds a number of others who also can't play their music at home, and they form a swamp band. As they are playing, they are overheard by an alligator, who instead of eating them, invites them all onto a riverboat to play for the alligator ball! They go, they play, are a bit hit, and are about to become a bigger hit, because the main item on the menu that night is Swamp Band Soup! The band escapes.The illustrations are just extraordinary. My daughter's favorite were the two pages that showed first all the alligators going onto the riverboat, and then the two pages that showed them all dancing at the alligator ball to the Swamp Band singing their song "Mama Don't Allow Any Music Playing in Here." I have recommended this book to other parents, and they all report that their kids loved it just as much as mine did. This book is best suited for children between the ages of two and six. Good story, great illustrations, and it helps if you can come up with a nifty little tune to go with the lyrics of the song.

A whimsical book for kids who listen to music!

My kids love this book -- each of them, in turn, has been enthralled by the story of Miles, the little badger whose saxophone playing is too awful for his mama to allow it in the house, but who lands a gig playing for some hungry alligators. By dint of his clever and melodious playing, Miles saves himself and his band from becoming the soup du jour, and mama hears the swamp lullaby he's playing and says, "Oh, how nice..." The pictures are richly colored and amusing, and this should take its place among your favorite books.