Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups

"I am Eloise/I am six." So begins the well-loved story of Eloise, the garrulous little girl who lives at New York's Plaza Hotel. Eyebrow raised defiantly, arm propped on one jutting hip, Eloise is a study in self-confidence. Eloise's personal mandate is "Getting bored is not allowed," so she fills her days to the brim with wild adventures and self-imposed responsibilities. An average Eloise afternoon includes braiding her pet turtle's ears, ordering "one roast-beef bone, one raisin and seven spoons" from room service, and devising innovative methods of torture for her guardians. Eloise's exploits are non-stop, and--accordingly--the text uses nary a period. Kay Thompson perfectly captures the way children speak: in endless sentences elongated with "and then ... and then ... and then... " Hilary Knight's drawings illustrate Eloise's braggadocio and amusement as well as the bewilderment of harassed hotel guests. Eloise's taunts are terrible, her imagination inimitable, her pace positively perilous. Her impertinence will delight readers of all ages. (Ages 5 and older) "Eloise is a model for uppity women." -- Nina Totenberg (rawther important radio lady) "Eloise is one of the more delightfully fiendish literary heroines of our time." -- Edward I. Koch (former NYC mayor!!!) "Eloise, Kay, and Hilary have been in my life always. And her pug puppy is in my heart. What memories!" -- Lena Horne (movie star) "My first happy response to Eloise was entirely due to the brilliant, iconic images. That brazen, loose-limbed, deliciosly little girl monster is Hilary Knight at his best." -- Maurice Sendak (enormously famous artist) "Ooooooo....I just love Eloise! Thank you, Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight. You're the bestest!" -- Judy Blume (lovely author) "Thanks to Eloise, my daughter sought independence and mastery over her life. We loved reading this book, and we've never given it away." -- Susan Sarandon (rawther grande actress) From the Publisher Eloise is a little girl who lives at The Plaza Hotel in New York. She is not yet pretty but she is already a Person. Henry James would want to study her. Queen Victoria would recognize her as an Equal. The New York Jets would want to have her on their side. Lewis Carroll would love her (once he got over the initial shock). She knows everything about The Plaza. She is interested in people when they are not boring.She has Inner Resources.If you take her home with you, you will always be glad you did.END Kay Thompson (1909–1998) was a singer, dancer, vocal arranger, and coach of many MGM musicals in the 1940s. The Eloise character grew out of the voice of a precocious six-year-old that Miss Thompson put on to amuse her friends. Collaborating with Hilary Knight on what was an immediate bestseller, Kay Thompson became a literary sensation when Eloise was published in 1955. The book has sold more than two million copies to date. Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight created four more Eloise books, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmas, Eloise in Moscow, and Eloise Takes a Bawth. Hilary Knight, son of artist-writers Clayton Knight and Katharine Sturges, was educated at the Art Students League, where he studied with Reginald Marsh. Besides the Eloise books, Hilary Knight has illustrated more than fifty books for children, six of which he wrote himself. He lives and works in New York City, not far from The Plaza Hotel. Read more