As a fan of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, I can
report that The Artsy Smartsy Club is a worthy member of the series
featuring Nick Itch and his pals Loretta Fischetti and Bruno Ugg.  Nick’s family moved to the city from the
suburbs partly because they wanted him to have a richer life, and although he
was first very unhappy about being torn away from his old life, he has settled
in fast.  He has made friends with Loretta
and Bruno and together they solved the mystery of who stole his bicycle.  It turned out to be Henrietta, a 266-pound
chicken, but Nick does not hold a grudge, and indeed, he has taken Henrietta
into his home.  Now, in the middle of a
long summer, the three children are looking for some way to fight off boredom,
and they discover art.  They make a trip
into Manhattan and meet art supply dealer Davis Davisdavis and they also meet
local Hoboken artist Lucy Casserole, who is a retired screever.  The story ends with the First Annual Hoboken
Street Art Festival and Competition organized by Meehan the Bum.  Pinkwater makes his characters eccentric and
fun, and he always refers to them by their full names, giving the writing a
nicely formal quality.  Along the way,
the children learn a little about the history of art and they make a trip to a
major museum accompanied by Henrietta dressed as a nun.  Pinkwater conveys great enthusiasm for city
life, even if he does so by making Hoboken feel like a small town.  The Artsy Smartsy Club is silly and
very entertaining. 

© 2006 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island, and editor
of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Children