I Love Lucy is the funniest show ever. My picture book review of I am Lucille Ball by Brad Meltzer is one of the ways for me my children know the show and Lucille Ball. The show shaped my personality. (Is this my way of saying that I’m funny?) 

Since I was a little girl, I’ve been watching and rewatching the I Love Lucy show. Before streaming, I missed the TV marathons they stopped showing every year.

Once in high school, I went to my parents’ friends’ house for dinner. My parents’ friends had three outgoing, sporty, and rowdy sons. As the obligatory host, one of the sons asked what I wanted to watch on TV. I said I Love Lucy. He looked at me like I was an alien. He asked, “You’re serious?” I said yes, and then he called me wacky.

He reluctantly turned the channel. After a few minutes, he said, “Let’s watch something else.” It was the first time I realized the existence of people who didn’t think I Love Lucy was cool. I was genuinely shocked.

I’ve been semi-forcing my kids to watch I Love Lucy on Hulu. It’s not their first choice to watch, but when they do, they laugh out loud. Whenever I hear their laughs at the same jokes I’ve laughed at my whole life, my heart is full. 

After watching a few episodes of the show, my kids read I am Lucille Ball more than once, pointing out the scenes they recognize. The biographies from the Ordinary People Change the World series are engaging, cleverly illustrated, motivational, with information easy to retain. The kind of non-fiction reading in which you don’t realize you’re learning. Keep reading for my favorite parts of the story!

Summary

[Copied from the book jacket cover.]

Lucille Ball always loved to laugh. When she was a kid, some people thought it wasn’t proper for a girl to be funny. But Lucy was a born comedian, and she always did what came naturally. From the first time she stood on stage, she knew she wanted to be a performer for the rest of her life – and she never gave up on her dream. Because she could use humor to solve any problem, Lucy grew up to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Why Read It

With such a fun subject, it wasn’t hard finding fun elements of this book. These are the ones that are most relatable to me. I hope they inspire your storytelling. Read to Spark Stories!

1. I Love I Love Lucy

In case you missed it, I ♥♥LOVE♥♥ I Love Lucy. Sitcoms are my favorite things to watch, and I can watch the same ones over and over again. I’ve watched I Love Lucy so many times; I can recognize when other sitcoms copy the same comedic bits. One I distinctly remember is from Frasier. I told my kids if jokes or scenes seem familiar, it’s because they’ve seen its copycat in other shows. I Love Lucy is the foundation of a lot of great comedy. 

My Korean friend, who works at the hospital, told me a lot of her patients watch the classics like I Love Lucy and MASH in their rooms. Rewatching the show, my friend found herself thinking how funny it must be from a 3rd person perspective to think a little Korean girl grew up watching a white, American classic so fondly. 

My mother introduced me to the show because she used to watch it in Korea. As a viewer, I like being part of a phenomenon that has been able to span across generations and cultures.

It’s fun for my kids to recognize the scenes of the show in the book. The first illustration of the book is the iconic Apartment 3D living room. When he opened the book, my son first said, “Look, mommy! It’s the same room.” Christopher Eliopoulos, the illustrator, accurately captured moments like photographs with a modern, cartoon-style for children.

Please don’t ask what my favorite episode is. I cannot choose. 

2. There’s No Such Thing as a “Proper Girl”

My parents and their generation have reprimanded me for not being a “proper girl” all my life. The main reason being I was too loud and didn’t take anything seriously. It drove my parents insane that I was always cracking jokes or drunk with laugher. 

On my wedding day, I giggled a lot because the whole thing was ridiculous to me. We had about 500 guests, and I only knew about 30 of them. We had the wedding primarily for the sake of our parents. We would have been fine with a practical ceremony at City Hall. 

It was so hard for me not to laugh about standing at an altar with hundreds of Korean faces watching us perform a traditional, Christian ceremony we didn’t plan at all. I’m still laughing!

At the end of the ceremony, as we greeted all the guests congratulating us, many of them said to me, “You shouldn’t have laughed so much at the altar. You might end up with a daughter as your firstborn.” I thought, “Is that supposed to be a bad thing?” 

I empathize with little Lucy. It’s hard when you’re told the way you’re feeling is wrong. Especially when you can’t help it! It just comes out! I wanted my kids to read this story to know being silly can bring serious success.

3. You’re Never Too Old to be Successful

I recently watched Being the Ricardos with Nicole Kidman and ♥Javier Bardem♥. The movie was OK. It was weird to see the couple having passionate sex because I’ve mostly seen them in separate beds. 

After all these years, I hadn’t realized Lucy was almost 40 years old when the first episode of I Love Lucy aired. My first thought was how much better Lucy aged than I am aging now, which let me ask my kids who looked younger.

My next thought was admiration and hope. I’ve been on this blogging gig wondering if I’m too old to make any real impact. Successful icons like Lucille Ball, Julia Child, Colonel Saunders, and even Moses inspire me. I never thought one was ever too old to follow their passions. But I had doubts as to whether or not those passions would ever amount to anything. I know it doesn’t happen everyday, but Lucy inspires me to try.

Related Titles

If you had fun with this book review, read my post about Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim. It’s also about a young, comedic performer determined to follow her dreams.