Little Lulu Vol. 7: Lulu’s Umbrella Service – by John Stanley & Irving Tripp
Volume: #7 of #18 | 230 pages | Dark Horse
Rating: *****
Summary: More Little Lulu! Interestingly enough, the story referenced in this 
volume’s cover –Lulu’s Umbrella Service– was printed in the volume I reviewed prior to this one, which was volume #6, Little Lulu: Letters To Santa.
This volume has a good number of “silent” one-page or half-page stories; 12 total, along with 23 regular stories, the majority of which are well-drawn and a lot of fun to read. Some of the better ones include “Great Day”, “Friends And Enemies”, “Rainy Day” and “Gilbert The Gorilla.” “Great Day” and “Friends And Enemies” were particularly charming, while “Rainy Day” is one of the most hilarious, well-thought-out Little Lulu stories I’ve read so far.
Recommended to fans of: Classic comics in general. Old Disney comics, Harvey comics such as Casper, Little Audrey, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Little Dot, Little Lotta, etc.
Favorite story: “Rainy Day”, in which Lulu and Tubby want to meet up to play, but neither one of them wants to go over to the other one’s house under the rain. They both pretend to have colds over the phone –talking with “stuffy” noses and sniffling– but neither one will believe the other, and so they both hang up. However, thinking that perhaps she really did have a cold, Tubby leaves for Lulu’s house. Meanwhile, Lulu thinks the same, and goes over to Tubby’s place. With the rain coming down so hard, they walk right past each other on the street without noticing –and that’s just the beginning. The rest is very funny and I won’t spoil it for you, so just buy this great little book and have fun reading it yourself!
What I liked best: A lot of my favorite Little Lulu stories are in this book. They are more charming and innocent than most. I also love the cover, and Gilbert the gorilla’s blunt, expressive and unchanging “G-runt!”
What I liked the least: “The Date”. It felt like a story done in a hurry –because it happened inside a movie theather, most panels were black squares with nothing but dialog balloons and eyes in them! I didn’t like “The Old Master” all that much either.
Verdict: Another one of my favorite volumes. I always say this about Little Lulu, but just in case you don’t know it: this is a classic, a priceless reprint that your kids deserve a chance to read! I definitely recommend buying it while it is available!
See this book on LibraryThing.
Please click on the link below to see a summary of every story in this volume (23 total.)
