Keep Your Eye on the Kid by Catherine Brighton - OPTIONAL

Brighton, Catherine. Keep Your Eye on the Kid; The Early Years of Buster Keaton. PICTURE BOOK. Roaring Brook Press, 2008.

EL - OPTIONAL

Buster Keaton was a star of the silent movie era known for his slapstick comic tumbles and falls and his straight face. This story recounts some of the adventures that Buster talked about, including being sucked out a window by a tornado and deposited on the sidewalk unharmed.

The title refers to the fact that Buster started out in Vaudeville in an act where his father would throw him across the stage and yell, "Keep your eye on the kid." The illustrations evoke the turn of the century era but struggle to capture the Keaton stunts they illustrate. There is an author’s note on Buster Keaton at the end, which provides more information about the man. Kid’s today are so far removed from the idea of silent pictures, Vaudeville, and slapstick comedy, that some background may be called for so that the children can appreciate the story.


Reviewer: Susan Huff, Area Library Media Specialist