2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge

The Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet (1970) 60 pages.

READING LEVEL: 4.9 AR POINTS 1.0

A cute little read teaching children that it’s best to just be who you are and not to envy others. In this case, Scamper the dog learned that it was no fun being famous and the center of attention, even more so than Palomar, the magnificent horse. ( )

In my opinion, this is an amazing book that seeks to demonstrate the big idea of self-acceptance. The author demonstrates to the reader how one should accept himself or herself rather than wishing to be like someone else. Scamp wanted so desperately to be widely loved that he missed how the he was already loved by Orvie. It was only when Scamp became something else that he realized that his original appearance was fine.
There were many reasons why I liked this book. The first reason was due to the language. The author employed a variety of made up words such as “Whingdingdilly,” “Hullabalooper,” “hornswoggled,” “zarks,” “frowsy,” and “rooked” in order to catch the reader’s attention and create interest in the text. At one point in the story, Zidly turned Scamp back into a dog by stating, “’Whammy Ka Zammy Skrumbo Skaroof! Zigga Zum Zap! Zaroota Ker-Poof!” This one line is filled with made up words that add excitement to the text. In addition, by employing unknown words, the reader can associate strong emotions and feelings to the words because they are unknown. Furthermore, the new words test the reader’s pronunciation because the reader must determine how to say these unknown words.
Another reason why I liked this book was because the writing is organized in a way that engages the reader and allows the text to flow throughout the story. For instance, the author employed rhyme during multiple parts of the book. During Zidly’s first spell, she states, “’Zum zum zaroot most anything goes, so how about a rhinoceros nose.’” By employing rhyme, the author catches the reader’s attention and gears it back to the text. The author then continues using rhyme as a method of engagement and interest throughout various portions of the book.
Finally, I like this book because the illustrations enhance the story and add understanding. This book is filled with a variety of new vocabulary and complex ideas, which can make it complicated for a child to understand. However, the illustrations match perfectly with the text and grant the reader additional insight and knowledge that help the reader to understand. For instance, the text says that Scamp is a Whingdingdilly and briefly describes what a Whingdingdilly is. However, without the illustration, the reader would be confused as to how the Whingdingdilly could possibly look because there are so many different parts to the animal. The illustration gives the reader the visual information he or she needs to make sense of the text. It also gives insight into why the people in the story react so strongly to Scamp’s appearance. The illustrations also provide color and imagery that interests the reader in the book and grabs his or her attention. The illustrations in combination to the writing and language produce a unique book that grabs the interest of the reader. ( )

Scamp the dog feels unloved and not very special so when a witch changes him into a whingdingdilly, the towns people mistaken him for a dangerous, evil beast.

The Whingdingdilly is a fantasy written for children 5-8 years old by Bill Peet, the author and illustrator of 36 much-loved picture books. All of Peets books have a moral, and Whingdingdilly is no different. Scamp the dog is the antihero of this fantasy on a quest to be famous and admired like the neighbor’s horse who he envies. Scamp runs away from his owner and meets a witch in the woods. When Scamp asks to be turned into a horse, the witch uses a spell to change him into a Whingdingdilly, a combination of several animals: a moose, an elephant, a rhinoceros, a giraffe, a camel, and a zebra. Achieving fame and recognition for his odd physique, Scamp realizes he misses his home and owner and wishes he could just be an ordinary dog again. When Scamp tries to go home, his owners, father and son, chase him away thinking he is a monster. After further misadventures, Scamp is finally changed back into an ordinary brown dog. Returning to his ordinary life, Scamp realizes that he likes himself, and his life, just the way it was. Thus, through humor and fantasy, Peet delivers his moral of optimism and self acceptance.

A former writer and cartoonist for Disney, Peet’s illustrations truly make the story believable. Our poor, pathetic antihero Scamp has an authentic hang dog expression in the beginning, and his antics as a Whingdingdilly do not seem far from our world of reality television today. The Whingdingdilly creature is ingenious, and the result of graphical exquisite corpse games Peet played with school children. Seeing the children’s delight in fantastical creatures he drew, Peet was inspired to write The Wingdingdilly. ( )

Scamp, the old farm dog decides he wants to be a horse, he runs away and a tree-house living witch changes him into a whingdingdilly-- an utterly unique creature.