Hardcover

Eloise (Eloise Series)

"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 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.

Eloise: The Absolutely Essential 50th Anniversary Edition

Here is everything you need to know about

Eloise

who is celebrating her 50th anniversary though she is still not a day over six. In the front of this book we have printed the original Eloise story & pictures and in the back of it there are sketches and stories by Mr. Hilary Knight (the Artist) and photographs of Miss Kay Thompson when she was young and fabulous and rawther like Eloise and absolutely loads of informationthat you simply cawn't cawn't cawn't get anywhere else. Here's the thing:

Whether you are just about to fall in love with Eloise or have already baked her a cake you ought to have this book. (Charge it please and thank you very much.)

Eloise: The Ultimate Edition

Frankly, one can never have too much Eloise. For all those who love love love the irrepressible 6-year-old resident of New York City's haughty Plaza Hotel, and shining star of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's classic Eloise, the ultimate joy is to see four favorite titles collected in one enormous volume: Eloise: The Ultimate Edition. Sit back and watch as our heroine braids Skipperdee the turtle's ears, brushes her teeth with pear lemonade in Moscow, absolutely goes wild in Paris, and jingles around her lobby at Christmastime, tying tassels on the thermostat. This edition, with a lovely new dust jacket by Hilary Knight, includes our absolutely darling little sweetnik in Eloise in Moscow, the fantastique Eloise in Paris, the rawther festive Eloise at Christmastime, and the splendid scrapbook of memorabilia, photos, and drawings, The Absolutely Essential Eloise. It's all absolutely essential, if you ask us. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

If you

love love love

Eloise

(who doesn't?)

and you

cawn't cawn't cawn't

get enough of her

(who can?)

then you simply

MUST

have this

absolutely enormous

book

It has

everything Eloise

not just

The Absolutely

Essential

and jolie Paris

and fa la la la la

Christmastime

and dear gray Moscow

but a lovely

new dustjacket

by Mr. Knight

Even if you have

all the Eloise books

you need this one too

So charge it please and

THANK

YOU

VERY

MUCH

Eloise in Paris (Eloise Series)

Why is Eloise, 6-year-old resident of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, going to Paris? She and Nanny were summoned by a cablegram from Eloise's mother, and, as we all know, "If you are going to Paris France / you have to turn into French and absolutely go wild / and put adhesive tape on you / and fall down a lot and sklathe the window / and stretch into the curtain and..." Ahh, the deliciously mad logic of Eloise. She promptly gets on the phone to tell everyone--including room service--that she is Paris bound. There's so much to do--shots, passport pictures, packing ("Here's what else you have to take / Everything"), and of course the endless good-byes. Fortunately, "Sabena is the only airline / that will allow you to travel with a turtle" so Skipperdee comes along for the ride. At last, ils arrivent!

Hilary Knight captures familiar Parisian sights in his delicately hewn pen-and-ink illustrations of everything from the Arc de Triomphe to the Seine to the Champs Élysées to outdoor cafés. Children will study every detail of each rawther extraordinaire illustration, from Weenie's snout (such as it is) peeking out from under the hotel bed to the bandy-legged, bunchy-shirted Eloise with her necklace of champagne corks. Even if children don't understand half of the quirks and language directed toward precocious grownups ("Langoustines make very good fingernails"), they'll find more than enough to delight them down to their very toes. Adults, of course, will also revel in this fascinatingly eccentric romp. And if you know anyone who loves (or will love) Paris, this book is the perfect bon voyage gift. Eloise in Paris was first published in 1957, the sequel to the original Eloise, and is every bit as wondrous. If you're in search of more Eloise (and who isn't really?), don't miss The Absolutely Essential Eloise, the original Eloise book with an additional scrapbook that tells the whole story of this impish character and her devoted creators. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1957 by Kay Thompson. Reproduced with permission of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.) (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson

Bonjour!

Here's the thing of it: Paris has just been discovered by Eloise the little girl from the Plaza...

Here is what Eloise does in Paris: everything.

The effect is rawther extraordinaire. If you come to Paris with Eloise you will always be glad you did.

Eloise in Paris was first published in 1957, the second of the Eloise quartet, and an immediate bestseller. Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight traveled to Paris to research the book, and the illustrations are dotted with the celebrities they knew there: Richard Avedon takes Eloise's passport photograph; Christian Dior prods her tummy, while his young assistant, Yves Saint Laurent, looks on; Lena Horne sits at an outdoor café.

All four Eloise books by the late Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight -- Eloise: The Absolutely Essential Edition, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmastime, and Eloise in Moscow -- are now being reissued by Simon & Schuster.

The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury

Eloise Takes A Bawth

What's this--a new Eloise, never before seen or published? News doesn't get better than that. Kay Thompson first wrote Eloise Takes a Bawth in Italy in the 1960s with Hilary Knight and pal Mart Crowley; it has been marinating until now for a release with all-new drawings by Hilary Knight. Of course, this time Eloise is not in Moscow, not in Paris, she is simply in the bawth at home in the Plaza Hotel. With Eloise, though, nothing is simple. Perhaps especially the notion of taking a bath, where you have to "skibble into the bathroom and take off all your clothes," then strike a pose and look in the mirror, and splawsh, and sing, and bathe with turtle Skipperdee and dog Weenie. And pretend to be the "loosest cannonball in all the Caribbean" and "Little Miss Mermaid but let's keep that between us." But what's this? Could Eloise's bathtime shenanigans be causing a drip that "has begun to drop within the walls and hallowed halls of the stately old Plaza?" Drenching the elite at the Venetian Masked Ball in the Grawnd Ballroom, no less? Fabulously decadent scenes of Eloise enacting wild battles and undersea dives in the bathtub on the "tip top floor" of the Plaza contrast deliciously with the resulting swampy splendor of the ballroom. Extended fold-out cross-sections of the hotel's plumbing system and a spectacular, colorful, double gatefold illustrating the underwater ball ("the sensation of the social season" thanks to Eloise!) add drama and silliness as well. A splawsh indeed! (Ages 6 to 106) --Karin Snelson

Eloise's Guide to Life: Or, How to Eat, Dress, Travel, Behave, and Stay Six Forever

If you grew up with Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's Eloise books, some of her eccentricity probably rubbed off on you whether you realize it or not. Frankly, it's difficult to remain unaffected by a 6-year-old girl who lives in New York City's Plaza Hotel, braids her turtle's ears, talks to Mars through a paper cup, and pours water down the mail chute. Eloise's Guide to Life pieces together snippets from Eloise, Eloise in Paris, Eloise in Moscow, and Eloise at Christmastime in the interest of instructing its readers on "how to eat, dress, travel, behave, and stay six forever." Of course, if everyone took this advice, people would put large cabbage leaves on their heads when they had headaches, throw occasional temper tantrums, comb their hair with forks, and pretend they were orphans to get food from strangers. Like the wee Seuss-isms, this whimsical sampling of Eloise-isms is sure to renew a sense of rebellion and joie de vivre in nostalgic Eloise fans. This small book is perfect for new graduates or for anyone who has forgotten how much fun it can be to wear toe shoes on their ears. For adults who want absolutely everything Eloise, The Absolutely Essential Eloise includes the text and illustrations of the original title, along with a historical scrapbook detailing the making of Eloise. (Grownups) --Karin Snelson

If you're bored with your life and want to be more like me,

Eloise

Then buy this BOOK for Lord's sake and

CHARGE IT PLEASE

Eloise Goes to the Beach (Eloise)

Join Eloise as she leaves The Plaza for a splendid,

sun-soaked day at the beach! Pull the tabs, lift the flaps,

and turn the wheels to see how our favorite city girl

spends her oh-so-fabulous day.

Eloise At Christmastime

Eloise has always had a rather festive air about her, but when Christmastime rolls around, well, it's "Fa la la la fa la la la lolly ting tingledy here and there," of course. The bunchy-bloused, spindly-legged scamp is speaking in rhyme this time, and in typical Eloise fashion, the verse simply can't be perfectly metered, for what would be the point? She rushes around New York's Plaza Hotel on Christmas Eve, jingling, spreading Christmas cheer, tying tassels on the thermostats, and writing "Merry Christmas" on all the walls. And of course there are gifts to be delivered and wrapped:

For Weenie a roastbeef bone deluxe
For Skipperdee raisin milk
I'm giving the valet a beehive of course
made of safety pins and silk

Her asides, printed in red, are as priceless as ever: "Sometimes there is so much to do that/ I get sort of a headache around the sides and partially under it." Or in a rare vulnerable moment, "For when you are a child of six/ it's difficult to know/ if you deserve a present or not/ at Christmastime/ or so." But enough of that. "We sang Noel for 506/ Silent Night for 507/ We didn't sing for 509/ at the request of 511."

Hilary Knight's pen and ink pink-and-black illustrations are perfect--particularly of the "sugar plums" dancing in Eloise's head on Christmas Eve, complete with crazed elves, Nanny-as-angel, reindeer with glasses, and of course Santa's sleigh with one giant package in it... for Eloise. Kay Thompson's Eloise at Christmastime, first published in 1958 with a different cover, joins Eloise in Paris and The Absolutely Essential Eloise (with additional historical scrapbook) as a much welcomed reissue of the original. And there's always just Eloise. (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson

Yes

Here she is at Christmastime

Complete with tinsel and holly

Singing fa la la la lolly

And over the roar of the jingle bells

You can hear hear hear her say

It's absolutely Christmas

But I don't mind a bit

I give everyone a present

For that's the thing of it

So when it's everly Christmastime

And you're under your Christmas trees

Simply tinkle a bell and have a trinkle

And remember

Me

Eloise

Eloise in Moscow

Eloise gets more outlandish with each book in Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's popular 1950s series. First published in 1951--when cold war sentiments were heating up--Eloise in Moscow showcases the highly undiplomatic exploits of our favorite precocious 6-year-old as she paints the town red with her beloved Nanny. Adults will relish this glimpse behind the Iron Curtain, complete with a foldout spread of the Kremlin that is positively suitable for framing ("Here's what they/ have in the Kremlin/ armor Easter eggs/ icons/ and clocks," "Ivan is terrible/ and is watching in this tower"). The usual pink, black, and white color scheme is absent here--Knight's pen-and-ink drawings are instead accented with a rich goldenrod, and in the foldout Kremlin, even oranges and greens.

After a three-week stay in Moscow with her colleague Hilary Knight, Kay Thompson had plenty of fodder for her distinctly Eloisian travelogue: the food ("It is difficult to know what to eat in Moscow/ There is no melon in season/ Nichevo"); the stilted English of their tour guide ("That house is Chekhov/ That house is Stanislavsky if you want to see it/ No you cannot it is reconstruction"); national security ("Our telephone had quite a bit of static/ so we talked about General de Gaulle/ to throw them off track/ Everybody listens to everything in Moscow"); and even the water ("The water is Russian so I brushed my teeth/ with/ pear lemonade and apple lemonade/ Actually I preferred/ the pear").

Children will be fascinated by the intricate, delicately skritched details of this 72-page picture book, but adults will surely be the most amused. Fortunately, in the wake of Eloise's Russian junket, the Kremlin wall is left standing, and there are no international repercussions. But is she, as she haughtily declares, an "absolutely darling little sweetnik"? Definitely nyet. And that's the way we like her. If your Eloise library is incomplete, which would be sad, be sure to investigate Eloise in Paris; Eloise at Christmastime; The Absolutely Essential Eloise (complete with historical scrapbook); or the original recipe, Eloise. (Best for grownups--or as a read-aloud for ages 7 and older) --Karin Snelson

Odd Couple Invade Russia and Produce Best-seller

When Kay Thompson (with Hilary Knight in tow) swept through Moscow at the height of the Cold War, the Russians didn't know what hit them. No one could have predicted that this small masterpiece would be the result. First published in 1959 and out of print for more than three decades, their fourth book about Eloise is DELICIOUS.