What is the origin of the phrase “liar, liar, pants on fire”?
Camp Hi-Dee-Ho is the setting for Gilbert’s first overnight camping experience in Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite! Here Gilbert is scared when other campers tell ghost stories, but a midnight trek to the bathroom reveals that he is not the only one frightened. “Those anticipating … an inaugural camp expe-rience especially will revel in this realistic yet reassuring visit,” wrote a Publishers Weekly critic. According to Kitty Flynn in Horn Book, deGroat “gets the thrills and (slight) chills of a first overnight camping experience just right.” Gilbert is given the role of George Washington in a class skit in Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. Though his line is “I cannot tell a lie,” when faced with a tough situation, Gilbert realizes that telling the truth is often much harder than lying. Ilene Cooper, writing in Booklist, commented on the “humorous text, the sprightly art with its all-animal cast, and the message that peeks through the fun.” According to Anne Knickerbocke
