Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162760 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-01
• Binding: Hardcover
• 80 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Maurice Sendak calls Eloise a "brazen, loose-limbed little monster". Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Quindlen finds her pathetic and lonely. Eloise gave Vanity Fair writer Marie Brenner "permission to rebel". Anyone who has been introduced to the eccentric 6-year-old who spends her days at large in New York's Plaza Hotel pouring water down the mail chute and managing her self-imposed responsibilities is fascinated, fascinated, fascinated. She is the only girl we know who feeds her turtle raisins and braids his ears, wears Kleenex boxes on her head (they make very good hats) and gets away with everything. Even if you have seven copies of the original Eloise, you may want to add The Absolutely Essential Eloise to your collection. In addition to the full splendour of Eloise, this special edition includes a 16-page scrapbook, written by Marie Brenner, with "photographs of Miss Kay Thompson when she was young and fabulous and rawther like Eloise" and never-before-seen photographs, memorabilia and sketches and stories from illustrator Hilary Knight. Anyone who adores Eloise and is intrigued by her talented creators should have this book within easy reach. (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson

Synopsis
Eloise lives with her nanny at The Plaza Hotel in New York. The daughter of rich parents, she is left daily to her own devices. She knows everything about The Plaza and everyone in it. Henry James would want to study her, and Queen Victoria would recognise her as an equal.

Customer Reviews

darling Eloise
at 41 I still have (and I'll admit, read) all my childhood Eloise books (much treasured with my scrawl all over them and ripped paper covers..)

I had a boy but if I'd had a girl these would be essential reading...I thought of her on my first visits to NYC, Paris and Moscow.

One word of warning, being raised with Eloise cultivates an 'A' list mentality. I can't otherwise explain how I feel so at home in five star hotels ?!

the illustrations are the divine too.
Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy

Great for Adults and Children Alike
I am one of 4 children and my mother used to read books like this to all of us when we were small. Recently she mentioned this - I realised it was one I had missed out on and decided to pick up a copy. I'm glad I did - a story line and (especially) illustrations that had me laughing out loud. A classic childrens book.

Oooooooooooooooooooo I absolutely love Eloise!
Eloise lives with her nanny, dog, and turtle in The Plaza Hotel in New York City. She knows that the modern six-year-old has to keep moving in order to get the full potential for fun each day from a busy hotel . . . especially when your mother knows The Owner. Between investigating, racing, and helping, she covers The Plaza from top to bottom. And if you visit the hotel, you'll see her picture just off the lobby on the 58th Street side.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Eloise was one of her picks.

Our daughter's mother and I often have meetings in The Plaza, and sometimes stay overnight there. On one trip, we bought this book in the gift shop and had Eloise sign it for our daughter before we left. Eloise wrote, "Sorry I missed you. Hope to see you next trip Love, Eloise" Every time we went to New York with our daughter when she was six, we looked for Eloise but we kept missing her. It was lucky that her picture was always there to greet us.

After our daughter could read, we would encourage her to read this book while we were away at The Plaza. In that way, she could feel like she was with us.

Then when we went on trips, we would ask her what she would like to do in the hotel. If she couldn't think of anything, we would ask her what Eloise would do. Soon, an interesting plan would develop.

Eloise is a brave little girl. Her mother is always gone, and only invites her to come along when the sun is shining where her mother is. In the meantime, there's room service.

Eloise is a great book for the beginning reader, because the illustrations so nicely match up with the story. In fact, when your child has a chance to visit The Plaza, she or he will be delighted to see that it is so much like the book. This makes it seem like home for your child, as well. Also, there are not too many punctuations (especially periods) so it's easy to focus on the words.

The story is hilarious. Most adults wouldn't have the aplomb or the self-confidence of Eloise. For children, Eloise is a marvel . . . as well as a whimsical role model. What child will not want to have this story read and memorize it? That memorization then helps form the basics of learning to match the memory to the words. And soon, your child is reading along with you. At some point, he or she can take over and read the story aloud to you. What great fun for you both!

One of my favorite qualities in the story is that Eloise is never bored. She must be allergic to ennui. Yet so often youngsters today say they are bored, like war-weary Europeans after World War I. Eloise can help turn that attitude around into more active channels. No television addict is she!

After Eloise has been adopted as a niece into your family, I suggest that you use Eloise's story as a starting point to help your child understand herself or himself better. Why is Eloise so happy in The Plaza? Would your child like to live in The Plaza? Why is Eloise never bored?

Look for opportunities to explore your potential, wherever and whoever you are!