No, David!

Front cover
Illustrator	David Shannon
Cover artist	David Shannon
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Caldecott Honor Book
Genre	Comedy
Published	September 1, 1998
Publisher	Blue Sky Press
Pages	32
Awards	Caldecott Honor Book, ALA Notable Child Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon title, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, New York Times Best Illustrated Book List
ISBN	0-590-93002-8

No, David! is a 1998 children's picture book written and illustrated by David Shannon and published by Scholastic Inc. Shannon wrote a story by himself at five years old, and later in his life, he found this story and decided to publish it after re-writing this original work. This short children’s book focuses on the story of a mischievous child named David who misbehaves constantly and is always faced with a reprimanding “No, David!” from his mother. Important themes such as discipline, proper behavior, parental love, and childhood essence are evident throughout this children’s book through words and illustrations. Regardless of the varying receptions from the public, after its original publication, No, David! was recognized with a variety of different awards and honors, and there were many adaptations that were made in the following years based off of this book.

Background

When author David Shannon was five years old, he wrote a story about a little six-year-old boy (named David) doing all sorts of activities he was not supposed to do. "No" and "David" were the only words that appeared throughout the book, as they were the only words Shannon knew how to spell at that age. In 1997, Shannon came across his childhood book in his mother's closet and re-wrote it using a childlike handwriting and included drawings of his mishaps. Shannon took on this project because he thought it would be fun to recollect on all of those familiar variations of the universal “no” that he heard as he was growing up. The author (David Shannon) at the end of his note reveals that '"yes" is a wonderful word but "yes", it doesn't keep the crayon off the wall.'. ^[1]

Plot summary

This story, portrayed by a picture book, is about a young boy named David who is often told “no” by his mother. David is an energetic and mischievous child, and throughout the story, David is constantly engaging in antics that always lead to his mother’s disapproval.

On the first illustration, the text reads, "David's mother always said, 'NO DAVID!'". The first illustration depicts David using crayons to draw on the living room wall.

Throughout its illustrations, this book pictures the various unapproved activities that David participates in, such as trying to snag a cookie from the cookie jar, tracing mud into the house, splashing water all over in the bathtub, making loud noises with pots and pans, playing with his food, picking his nose, not cleaning his room, and so on. With each mischievous activity, David received disapproval and a reprimanding “No, David!” for his actions. The story concludes with a final activity. The final straw comes where David plays baseball in the house. (His mother says, "NOT IN THE HOUSE, DAVID!".) But when David plays baseball in the house, he breaks a vase. And then, he receives a 5-minute time out on a chair in the corner.

David feels bad for causing damage with his rowdiness. When he is in time out, a tear falls down his cheek. Finally, the story ends with David’s mother embracing him with a “Yes David, I love you". ^[1]

Analysis

Themes

This short story presents some important ideas and themes for the young audiences that this book is geared to. Various themes such as discipline and proper behavior are very evident, as this book focuses on the mischievous behavior of David when he disobeys rules. Each page of this book has David acting out things he is not supposed to do, and this theme addresses the common issue of disobedient and improper behavior in younger children. ^[2]

In addition to discipline and proper behavior, parental love and patience is another theme that this short story highlights. Even though this story circulates around the idea of David’s mother reprimanding him for all of his disobedient actions, his mother’s love for him remains constant and is reinforced at the end of the story with their embrace. ^[3]

As mentioned in the authors note, this book also is able to help capture the essence of childhood and the curiosity that children often have at such a young age. Through David’s mischievous acts, this book provides a look into a young child’s world, allowing all types of readers, adults and children alike, to relate as these acts are common childhood experiences.

Illustrations

This short story also uses visual elements and illustrations to foreshadow plot developments as well. For instance, with the readers seeing vivid images about him playing baseball with a bat with a vase nearby, it comes with no surprise that the next page there is a tearful David sitting next to the broken vase. These illustrations help reinforce the intended younger audiences abilities to identify what the outcomes will be as a result of certain actions. ^[4]

Critical reception

There were many positive awards and distinctions that were given to this children’s book.

In 1998, No, David! Was recognized as one of New York Times’ Best Illustrated Children’s Books. ^[5] This book also was awarded a Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon in 1998 as well. ^[6] In 1999, No, David! won the Caldecott Honor distinction. ^[7] In addition to this, in that same year, No, David! was also designated as an ALA Notable Children’s Book. ^[8] In 2007, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children.” ^[9] In 2012, No, David! was considered to be one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal. ^[10]

Since the publishing of this children’s book in 1998, this short story has received a variety of different varying receptions, both positive and negative:

Many viewed this book as a story that helped present an imperfect young character navigating through childhood, and that this book can be seen as a way to spark a conversation between caretakers and children about right, wrong, and how it should all be addressed. ^[11] This book has been widely used amongst families, with there being many book sheets created to help caretakers have these more difficult conversations with these young children. ^[12]

However, this book also had some negative receptions that came along with its publication. This book did not necessarily pass well with everyone, with this book becoming banned at some school districts as a result of certain illustrations included in the short story. ^[13]

Adaptations

There have been many adaptations created from this original short story. These adaptations are as follows:

Original Series Books

• No, David! (1998)
• David Goes to School (1999)
• David Gets in Trouble (2002)
• It's Christmas, David! (2010)
• Grow Up, David! (2018)

Prequels (Board Books)

• David Smells! (2005)
• Oh, David! (2005)
• Oops! (2005)

Sequels (Sticker and Activity Books)

• Uh-oh, David! (2013)

From the original series books, in the final book Grow Up, David! (released in 2018), David has an older brother. His brother is about 8–10 years old.

References