Punch in New York

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$14.95

Wh

hen iTotessore Tucci-Piccini, the fa-

mous

puppeteer, arrives in

the cast of his illustrious

New

York with

Punch and Judy

show, a thief cuts into the act even before the curtain rises, and

makes

off

with Mr.

Punch, the star of the show. But, never

Mr

Punch

more than

is

a

match

Bad Thief and his gang. thinking saves drop, a

him from

for the

His quick

a forty-story

band of muggers, a crocodile

lands

him

man

in the

fear,

— and

a job as chauffeur to the richest

world

Caldecott Award-winner Alice Provensen's

witty text and stunning pictures

bring Mr. Punch's predicaments and pratfalls to

vivid

life in this

wildly entertain-

ing romp.

One

of the

characters to

commedia

most intriguing

emerge from the

dell'arte, the

theatrical

traditional

puppet Punch has

captivated audiences for hundreds of years

with his petulance, his brawling crimes

and misdemeanors, and his irrepressible

cunning

as a trickster

who always emerges

triumphant.

Ages 3-8

Reinforced ru

ALICE PROVENSEN VIKING

^ DOUGLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY DtSTRICT BOULEVARD 961 S. PLUM CREEK CASTLE ROCK, CO, 80104

For Erik,

and Ethan Provensen

Elisa, Beth,

and now, of course,

for

Sean Martin Mitchell,

with love

-A.P.

The an

for

was prepared

Punch

New

in

York

and ink on vellum.

in oil

VIKING Published by the Penguin Group

Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books

375 Hudson

Street,

New

York,

New

USA

Inc.,

York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London

W8 5TZ,

England

Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 lohn Street, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 1B4 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:

Ha rmonds worth,

10,

New

1991 by Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books

First published in

13579 Copyright

©

10

Zealand

Middlesex, England

USA

Inc.

8642 All rights reserved

Alice Provensen, 1991

Library of Congress Catalog Card

Number: 91-50263

ISBN 0-670-82790-8 Printed in U.S.A.

Set in 14 point Aldus

Without limiting the nghts under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication

may

be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval

system, or transmitted,

in

any form or by any means

(electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright

owner and

the above publisher of this book.

A ROSY LAYER OF SMOG hangs over New York City as the Fhght from London prepares II

for

its

descent into

Professore Tucci-Piccini

wondering

if

his puppets

is

Kennedy

Airport.

On board,

fussing over his customs declaration and

need green cards to work in America. His bags

famous Punch and Judy show — the Crocodile and the Baby, the Devil and the Hangman, Judy and the little dog Toby, the Black Man, the Baker, the Cop, and the Clown. are bursting with the cast of his

In the International Arrivals Building, the Professore

Visa to the Passport Control PoHce. is it

He

explains to

shows

them

his Visitor's

that his

name

pronounced Too-chee Peach-eeny, but he knows they will never get right. Now the Customs Inspector wants to paw through all the

Professore's suitcases.

Professore Tucci-Piccini argues with him. lost, will

He

is

stray or be stolen. Indeed, even as the

afraid his puppets will be

argument goes on,

a

Bad

most important bag of all — the Thief, disguised as a porter, is one containing the Star of the Show — Mr. Punch, with his pointed hat and stealing the

his

wooden

bat.

The Bad Thief and den

in

his

buddy, the Cabbie, hurry over the bridge

Manhattan. They are sure the suitcase

is full

of

Money!

to their

Out pops Mr. Punch. "A DOLL! " snarls Sneering, he throws Mr. Punch out the window of the fortieth floor.

The Thief and the Leader.

his

Gang open

the suitcase.

.

.

.Wedding Cake!

"Thank you

"MUGGER! POLICE! " cries the Baker Man.

for a safe landing, Signore," says

'ROOTY-TO-TOO-IT!" he

Mr. Punch.

shouts as he sets off on his own.

'[L^

J^tl COFFEE

ShOFPg

Adrift and alone in the big city, Mr. Punch soon loses his way.

"Oh,

At

so tired," he whimpers,

last!

Mr. Punch sees

"no

place to sit."

a place to sit

down.

p-[Mi@TriL

TOO LATE! A Nasty Man grabs the seat quick. "You

got something to say, Punk?" he says to Mr. Punch.

Mr. Punch

is

quick on his

And he

feet.

"OH, NO!" says the Nasty Man. "THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT!"

is

Now Mr. shouts Mr. Punch.

on

his

Punch

So hungry!

way. is

hungry.

Urn u Mi OBOfl-

Mr. Punch: "Here is my penny." Hot Dog Man: "PENNY?"

Mr. Punch: "You won't give

me a

Hot Dog Man: "No sausidge

for

Boy: "You nuts, Mac?"

Boy:

sausage?'

no penny!'

"Yum."

oeooofl

Hot Dog Man: "Oh no!"

Hot Dog Man: "HIPPY! FREAK! POLICE!' Mr. Punch: "Just like in the old country."

Boy: "Chomp."

Boy:

Mr. Punch: "Ha!"

"BURP."

A Policeman sees Mr.

Punch running away. He blows

Out from an open manhole cover comes

"GOTCHA!"

he says.

his whistle!

a big green Crocodile.

Waiting

for

a passing tourist is

"OOF!"

Mr. Punch

is

not afraid.

"See, Friends, no

money," he says.

a

band of muggers.

Mr. Punch walks right into

their arms.

'Come with me. Pals. I will lead you to GOLD!" Mr. Punch knows how to deal with rascals.

[i^@mEY Mz^

Says Mr. Punch,

"We must bait our hook to catch our fish,

Boys. " Parked by the curb

is

a Beautiful Car.

It

belongs to Mr. Harry Helmstrump, the Richest

Man in the World.

Mr. Punch writes

a

Naughty Word on the

Beautiful Car with his spray can while

/org^oiin

Mr. Helmstrump's Chauffeur, James,

rises to the bait.

"CREEP!" he

shouts.

the rascally muggers

make themselves

invisible.

"Way to go!"

they whisper.

**-^^^

He

foUovv^s

Mr. Punch right into the hands of the

Rascals.

Mr. Punch puts on the Chauffeur's hat and gets into the

The muggers drape themselves

"Home, James,"

secretly

says Mr. Helmstrump.

on the

car.

driver's seat.

"Yes, SIR!" says Mr. Punch.

Mr. Punch has never driven a car before. Off they The wicked Rascals bounce off the Beautiful Car as

go! it

rides over a Patrol Car.

in iU Ml

III

ife I B

"You

are a

good

driver, James,"

says Mr. Helmstrump.

"Thank you.

Sir,"

says Mr. Punch.

II

III

in III

DP

D

D

D D

Q

D

D

D

H

D

Q

G

n

no

D

Q

D

D D

DD

OOflOQ

n

D D

DQD DDD

DD

D

DD

'"

Ill III III rii

n

a

n

^

"Where

is

James,

"James took

my man?"

sick, Sir,"

"Then you may

says Mr. Punch. "I

drive for me. Punch.

"Aye, aye. Sir," says Mr. Punch.

I'll

am James's

call

cousin. Punch."

you James."

Mr. Punch has conquered

He

New York! He has a steady job. He drives a big

hves in a mansion. But

somehow he

is

sad and lonely.

what has happened

to Professore Tucci-Piccini and

He

dog, Toby. Mr. Punch

misses his

little

is

all

his

beginning to

car.

He wonders puppet friends. feel

sorry for himself.

One day Mr. Punch

as

is

driving through the Park

on

his

way

to

buy

a cigar for

Mr. Helmstrump, he sees a Puppet Theater

surrounded by a

group of children.

It is

II

the theater of

Signore Professore

TUCCI-PICCINI! and Judy! and the Baby! and the

little

Toby!

dog,

"Yo!" yells the Black

"Hang

Man.

Five!"

hollers the

Hangman.

"Well, look what the cat

dragged in!" sniggers Satan.

"Far out!" says the Clown.

"Macaroni,"

murmurs

II

Professore.

"Pop!" goes the Baby.

"Yap! Yap!" yaps the

little

dog, Toby.

TOGETHER AT LAST!

"Hurrah!" the children shout.

.UMP

MEL,

Now they all work for Mr. Helmstrump six

days a

week— and

they

rip

him

off good.

Sundays, Professore Tucci-Piccini's

Puppet Theater performs in the Park.

.

.

FOR

FREE!

O

O

N

In the fifteenth century in Italy a

new form

N

drama emerged. Known

of secular

puppet Punch

is

is

commedia

dell'arte,

it

was

a

probably the sole surviving example of true popular theater in the commedia dell'arte tradition. The

one of the wickedest characters ever

Punch triumphs over everything that

humane. For hundreds of years he has again he has thrown his baby out the

Punch

as the

and played by stock characters." The Punch

theater, traditionally "professional, unliterary, improvised, ambulant,

and Judy show

N

U

is sly.

to

grow out

civilized

is

of

it.

and honest and

everything that

legal,

foiled the authorities, betrayed his friends,

wmdow of his

and abused

is

good and kind and

his wife.

Over and over

impoverished theater.

He is petulant. He is a liar. He is vulgar. Punch is we secretly identify.

ugly.

He has no redeeming features. And it is with

these disagreeable qualities that

There ors are

is

no point

committed

to

in

moralizing about Mr. Punch's behavior on his

show us

enable us to recognize our

Trapeze of

artists let

By

facing

antisocial behavior.

own amoral

own

natures.

mean

little

stage. His crimes

To present Punch

tendencies, nor give us insight into our

own

in a

and misdemean-

reformed version would not

repressions.

us experience danger vicariously, and roller coasters allow the luxury of fear without the terror

imminent destruction.

dark thoughts.

the dark side of our

A Punch and Judy show, with its crude, brawling folk tradition, permits us to look at our own them and laughing

Punch provides us with

Punch doesn't motivate us

to

do

at a

them, we are better able to handle our

own

aggressions and control our

harmless outlet for our guilty thoughts.

evil deeds.

Frightening as his behavior can be,

we

find ourselves glad the

baby

is

always on hand for the next performance.

—Alice Provensen

ALICE PROVENSENand her

late

many

husband Martin collaborated on

acclaimed picture books, including

The Glorious

Flight,

A

Caldecott Medal;

wmner

and Shaker Lane. Ms. Provensen creator of The

About her

is

also the

Buck Stops Here.

Mr

fascination with

character, she says,

are a part of

1984

of the

Peaceable Kingdom;

my

Punch's

"Punch and Judy shows childhood.

suffered

I

through professional presentations

at

birthday parties and in the park, and

amateur performances friends.

I

was

at

the

homes

of

a straight-laced child,

at

my and

Mr. Punch's strident voice irritated me, his violent behavior frightened me. rather hoping that

comeuppance its

in

I

Punch would meet

New

was his

York, a city that has

share of tricksters, hoodlums, and char-

latans, feet.

but

He

somehow Punch landed on

his

foiled the crooks, the authorities,

and the author" Alice Provensen Staatsburg,

New

lives in

York.

lacket itlustratwn copyright

©

Alice Prove

VIKING A

Division of Penguin Books

375 Hudson

Street,

New

York,

USA

New

Printed \n U.S.A.

ire.

York 10014