An anthology featuring seven short, silly stories for early readers, originally from Humpty Dumpty's Magazine, that use repetition and relatable situations to engage children. The title story involves a young owl borrowing his grandfather's glasses to become wise, while other tales include a boy rescuing a train from an elephant and a crow that becomes a neighborhood hero.
Kirkus Review, 1966: There are seven easy reading stories included, all of which first appeared in Humpty Dumpty's Magazine. Read one and you'll want to read them all. They offer variety, are all slightly silly, and all deal with situations which pull ready recognition and interest. "The Silver Bird Express" is a boy's dream of glory about rescuing a train which had ground to a halt because an elephant had plunked down on the tracks; in "Janey's Boss" a pet crow who liked to say "stop that" became a neighborhood pest and then a hero; "The 'Now Really' Time" is the wintertime when mothers crossly scold their children for their lost objects; and so on. As in the Little Raccoon stories and others by this author, the necessary repetition of phrases is handled as an integral and enjoyable aspect of the stories. Arnold Lobel's pictures show Just enough happening to tantalize even reluctant readers into the stories.
