Copyright 2003 Wendy E. Betts.
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Vol. 11, No. 7; November 2003
Click on the book covers for more information or to order from Powell's Books.
"Giggerty-geggerty, I can't wait!": long-awaited reprints
Perhaps partly because of differences in translators, Tove Jansson's
"Moomin" books vary widely in their style and emotional impact. Some
are mostly light-hearted and gay, while others are more serious and
introspective. Although all are enjoyable, I always found the more
complex, often sad books to be the most satisfying and memorable.
(With one exception: as a child, I could never make a connection with
Moominpappa at Sea, which focuses almost exclusively on an
adult point of view.) Moominvalley in Novemberis, perhaps,
Jansson's best and most universally powerful book, a poignant, wistful
story about loneliness and self-discovery.
Jansson's usual main characters, the Moomintrolls, are actually absent
from this story, which instead concerns some of the other
creatures--not exactly animals, but not exactly humans--that inhabit
the Moomin world. In this land, what you are is who you are:
hemulens are bossy and like to arrange everything, fillyjonks are
obsessively neat and tidy, tofts are small and silent. But sometimes
being what you're supposed to be doesn't make you happy. One day a
hemulen begins to feel his life is empty and meaningless; a fillyjonk
is terrified after a freak accident while cleaning; a toft discovers
that his daydreams about the Moomin family in Moominvalley have lost
their power to console him. And along with three other seekers, they
find their way to Moominvalley, a magical place they all think will
supply what they need. But the Moomin family has gone away on a
journey and the creatures are left waiting--together, but terribly
lonely--each with its own illusion about who the Moomins are and how
they will somehow save them from themselves.
Although I have always loved it, I find that Moominvally in
November has definitely gained meaning for me as I've gotten
older. As a child, I approached it mainly through the character of
Toft, a lonely, silently angry child, longing for the perfect mamma to
take care of him (a poignant wish shared by many adult readers as
well). The adult characters, particularly the Hemulen and Fillyjonk,
represented dangers, pathetic traps that children could grow up into
if they weren't careful. Although Jansson writes of the
pre-determined nature of the characters--"...a fillyjonk can never,
of course, be anything but a fillyjonk," for a child reader there's a
sense of choice: surely only adults are fillyjonks, it's not
something you are born to but something you become.
But now that I am an adult, and have more in common with both the
Hemulen and Fillyjonk characters than I might wish, I find the book
takes on a new meaning, offering a solution to a seemingly insolvable
problem: what do you do when you aren't happy with who you are but
can't change? For these unhappy characters, the answer lies in
knowing the truth about themselves, for in realizing their visions of
the Moomins were false, they also come to see themselves more truly.
And with that self-knowledge comes the awareness that they can also be
more than what they are: they can face their private fears and
stretch their boundaries, discovering their own uniqueness among the
others of their kind.
Significantly, I now find the ending of Moominvalley in November
to be a much happier one than I remember it as being. It's not a
child's idea of a happy ending: the changes have been small. But
each character has found what they truly need, and though they leave
alone, they are no longer lonely.
(Please note: this review is based on the original paperback
edition.)
Reprints
The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated by
Leonard Weisgard. Doubleday, 1946; 2003 (0-385-74640-7) $14.95
The 1947 Caldecott Medal winner.
My New York written and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen. Little,
Brown, 1993 (0-316-45653-5); 2003 (0-316-92711-2) $18.95
A New York girl's letter to a friend in the Midwest is just an
excuse for a wonderfully illustrated portrait of a brilliant, bustling
and beautiful New York. The short text is pleasant and informative,
if not especially memorable, but the paintings, crowded with color and
detail, can be pored over for hours. There's something to see
everywhere, down to the slogans on people's t-shirts--Jakobsen even
has some fun by putting an ad for her previous book on the top of a
taxi. Every corner of the paintings is filled with life. Of course,
the pictures are not exactly honest, showing nothing that is not
clean, bright and attractive--but although this is an idealized
portrait of New York, it manages to hold on to the essential nature of
the city, giving a genuine sense of its variety and diversity. (I
especially liked one crowd scene which features several kids with
mohawks and an unobtrusively but obviously gay couple.) This is New
York seen through the understanding eyes of love.
(Please note: this review is of the first edition; I have not seen
the new "Anniversary Edition," which has been revised and expanded.
There is also a "Holiday Edition" available, which features a scene of
Madison Square Garden at Christmas on the cover.)
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore. Illustrated by
Anita Lobel. Knopf, 1984; 2003 (0-375-82414-6) $8.95
This version of the much illustrated Christmas poem "A Visit from
Saint Nicholas" gives it a city setting, with lovely illustrations of
19th century Manhattan at night.
Books about tiny people who live unknown in the human world are
nothing new in children's books, yet Pratchett manges to make the idea
seem fresh and special. For one thing, he's one of the few authors
who's thought the situation out logically. Pratchett's "nomes" are
not merely tiny humans: they are alien beings who live at a much
faster pace than us (human speech sounds like mooing to them) and who
see the would in a completely different way. Although they are
similar to humans emotionally, their point of view is unique and
Pratchett, unsurprisingly, uses this as the basis for some pointed
satire on the human world. Even without satire, the books are
uproariously funny, as well as being often exciting and moving. This
edition collects all three nome books, Truckers, Diggers
and Wings,.in one large, but not too unwieldly volume. A must
for Pratchett fans.
Look-Alikes by Joan Steiner. Photographs by Thomas Lindley.
Little, Brown, 1998 (0-316-81255-2); 2003 (0-316-71348-1) $13.95
Text is basically irrelevant in this collection of fantastic visuals,
which give Martin Handford's "Waldo" a run for his money. Using
ordinary household objects, Steiner has created complex, enchanting
scenes: a carnival in which a boy rides on a roller coaster made from
a suitcase and baton, a general store that sells Hoover vacuum made
from razors, and a sweet shop with real pretzels on the pretzel-backed
chairs. Readers who like search puzzles will find rules, extra
challenges, and a full list of the "look-alikes" at the back of the
book, but you don't have to count every egg slicer and safety pin to
enjoy this fascinating book.
(Please note: this review is based on the first edition.)
Rootabaga Stories; More Rootabaga Stories by Carl
Sandburg. Illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham. Harcourt Brace,
2003 (0-15-204709-3; 0-15-204713-1) $17.00 ea.; (0-15-204714-X;
0-15-204706-9) $5.95 pb
Sandburg's mystical nonsense stories, reprinted with lively new
covers.
Wild Robert by Diana Wynne Jones. Illustrated by Mark Zug.
Methuen, 1989; Greenwillow, 2003 (0-06-055530-0) $15.99
Newly available in the United States in book form, this novella about
a girl who conjures up a mischevious magician is one of Jones'
thinnest books, in more ways than one. Fans may find it little more
than an echo of her more sophisticated fantasies, but it could be a
good introduction to her distinctive style for beginning readers.
New Books
In a startlingly different, yet thoroughly winning retelling of
Genesis, Big Momma, a giant of a woman with a can-do attitude and a
baby on her hip, rolls up her sleeves and creates the universe:
"'Light,' said Big Momma. And you better believe there was light."
Having created the world and everything in it, Big Momma decides to
take some time off to rest, but you better believe she is still up
there, looking down every now and then to warn us that we "better
straighten up down there." Oxenbury's illustrations, which begin with
shades of blue and progressively add more colors as Big Momma
continues to create, effectively combine the mystical with the
mundane, particularly in images of a gloriously alive Big Momma and
her baby bursting into the light together, and a beautiful mass of
people of all ages, shapes and colors crawling and stretching out of
the mud.
"It's usually about now--when Earlobe Lad is sobbing or Exact Change
Kid is handing out two quarters, three dimes, two nickels, and ten
pennies for a dollar, or I'm buffing the second coat of wax on the
Pumpkinmobile--that I ask myself, "What was I thinking?"
Guy Martin was an ordinary kid until he developed super powers that
made him the fastest man alive. (Unfortunately, also causing the
superhero Fastest Man Alive Man to have to change his name to Almost
Fastest Man Alive Man.) But before he can be a superhero himself, he
has to serve an apprenticeship as a superhero's sidekick. Often this
requires little more than cleaning up after the League of Big
Justice's
dinners. But when the Brotherhood of Rottenness destroys the
League of Big Justice's Headquarters of Big Justice, it's up to
Speedy and his fellow sidekicks to save the day.
This slight but entertaining story is reminiscent of "the Tick,"
but the humor is more scattershot, tending too much towards aimlessly
silly, stereotypical, and gross. (The completely unintelligible
Boy-in-the-Plastic-Bubble Boy is bound to cause some offense.) But
it's a fun read, especially for fans of comic book superheros. (8-12)
Also available: Sidekicks 2: Operation Squish!
Now (or Again) in Paperback
Anyone who has lived through a major earthquake knows that surviving
the initial shaking is only the beginning of the ordeal.
Earthquake at Dawn, a description of the aftermath of the
great quake of 1908, is not only interesting historical fiction, but
provides some understanding of the experience of quake
survivors--showing not only the terrors and major deprivations, but
the implacable destruction of everyday life thatŐs almost harder to
bear.
Earthquake at Dawn uses a fictional narrator, fifteen-year-old
Daisy Valentine, but the events of the story are centered around
documentation left by two women: Mary Exa Atkins Campbell, who wrote
an exhaustive, revealing letter about the experience, and Edith
Irvine, who took photographs of the ruins of San Francisco at much
personal risk. (Quotes from the letter and several of Irvine's
photographs are included in the book.) In the story imagined here,
Edith Irvine is accompanied on a trip abroad by Daisy, a family
servant with dreams of seeing the world. Those dreams are abruptly
halted by the earthquake; although Edith and Daisy are relatively safe
on a boat in San Francisco harbor when the quake strikes, their
efforts to find Edith's father at City Hall soon lead them into the
heart of the disaster. Their fictional meeting with Mary Exa brings
them together with others into a circle of people trying to help each
other through the worst of the ordeals: lack of water, pregnant women
going into labor, fires and explosions, and looters and vigilantes.
Adding insult to injury is their growing awareness that a corrupt
government is trying to cover up the extent of the damage, making
Edith's attempts to document it with photographs a risky
enterprise.
Although Gregory falls prey to the historical fiction writer's
worst temptation--the urge to write in every well-known person who
might possibly have met her characters--Earthquake at Dawn is
engrossing and heartfelt, a very accessible record of this important
event. The attention paid to seemingly small details--the annoyance
of itchy, unwashed hair, the panic from hearing sudden thumps,
Daisy's embarrassment after she saves herself from fire by leaving
her skirt behind--helps give a picture of how it feels when your
entire life is being continually disrupted (aftershocks making it
impossible to ever feel safe), yet you still have to get on with
day-to-day living. I just wish it had been within the scope of the
book to include all of Campbell's letter, as its excerpts brought
the experience to life even more strongly.
The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber
Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. Laurel Leaf, 2003 (0-440-23813-7;
0-440-23814-5; 0-440-23815-3) $6.99 ea. pb
The popular fantasy series, in an attractive, adult-reader friendly
paperback edition.
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. 1972;
HarperTrophy, 2003 (0-06-054095-8) $5.99 pb
The fourth and final book in the "Protector of the Small" series.
Reminiscent of Rumer Godden's classic doll stories, this is a
likeable tale about the special relationship between children and
toys. Ilyana, who longs to dance, feels an instant affinity with the
beautiful ballerina doll she sees in a toy shop--but the one-of-a-kind
doll named Noelle costs $175. To make things even worse, Ilyana's
obnoxious classmate Mary Jane is determined to get the doll for
herself--and she's enough of a spoiled brat to manage it.
Noelle the doll is unaware of this rivalry: her dreams are all about
being a prima ballerina, not about little girls, and she gets her wish
when she is purchased to be a prop in "the Nutcracker." But
when Noelle is no longer needed for the ballet, she realizes that the
best kind of dancing for a doll is in a child's loving arms. Is
Noelle doomed to a lonely life in the prop room, with the miserable
ghosts of other unloved toys? Will Mary Jane find her, only to toss
her in the closet with her other dolls? Or will Ilyana somehow find a
way to make both her and Noelle's dreams come true? With its
sprightly narrative and satisfying conclusion, Noelle of the
Nutcracker is just right for holiday reading.
Miranda Browne is deeply disturbed when her parents take in a homeless
runaway named Abby Chandler. Somehow she seems to be the only one who
notices how strange Abby is: her odd way of speaking, her collection
of decades old photographs of girls that all look exactly like her...
and the way she seems to vanish whenever Miranda tries to follow her.
As Miranda's suspicions grow, so does the hostility between them;
but when Miranda reveals that she has heard Abby crying when she was
nowhere to be seen, their mutual antagonism dissolves in the face of a
peculiar bond. Abby is not an ordinary girl: she is lost in
time. And Miranda is the first person ever who could hear her crying
when she was in another time; the first person she has met in over 300
years who might be able to help her.
As in Time Windows, the previous book about Miranda, Reiss
plays with the concept of our relationship to time to create an
unusual, revealing story. Although it drags in places--taking forever
to disclose Abb secret, which is fairly obvious from the start--most
of
ok is smoothly written and engrossing, if not entirely convincing.
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples.
Knopf, 1989; Laurel-Leaf, 2003 (0-440-23856-0) $6.59 pb
A Newbery Honor book.
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. Illustrated by Peter Sis.
1986; HarperTrophy, 2003 (0-06-052122-8) $5.99 pb
Fleischman's Newbery Award book, a fast-paced caper about a spoiled
Prince and his sharp-witted "whipping boy."
Also available: Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman. Illustrated by
Jos. A. Smith. HarperTrophy, 2003 (0-06-052121-X) $5.99 pb
This first novel is an interesting, albeit not completely successful
blend of "problem novel" and fantasy. After an accident which
leaves her both orphaned and blinded, fifteen year old Mandy goes to
live with relatives she's never met. Stiff with anger, she tries
not to open up to the new people in her life, or to accept help from
anyone. Then she begins to hear voices outside her window, and finds
herself seeing, then living, events from the past every time whe
"looks" through it. As Mandy slowly adjusts to her new life and
starts to make friends, she also witnesses the truth about her
family's mournful history, and begins to understand the danger of
stubborn pride.
Narrated in a low-key voice that doesn't really do justice to the
unusual events of the story, this book is stronger as fiction than as
fantasy. It's not a particularly fresh look at the familiar theme,
nor is it a thoroughly plausible portrait of what it's like to be
blind, but it's an engaging and absorbing story that makes good
escapist reading.
Growing a Reader: Children's Books for Children
This new Amelia Bedelia book (written by a relative of the original
author) has a change of format. Amelia Bedelia is Christmas shopping
for Mrs. Rogers, and making her standard brand of mistakes with her
list--Mr. Rogers wants headphones, but Amelia Bedelia isn't sure how
many phones he can put on his head. But on the end of each page is a
flap to turn, which reveals a helpful salesperson finding the correct
item for her. It's less intricate and less lively than the usual
stories but perhaps a good approach to a potentially anxiety-creating
situation: little kids may not care if Amelia "draws the drapes"
incorrectly, but Christmas presents are something else again! (3-6)
Against a background of bright, "baby gap" colored pages, an impish,
round-headed toddler wearing only a diaper demonstrates various
opposite concepts: "Slippers are quiet. Mommy's shoes are LOUD."
"Ladies are BIG. Ladybugs are little." "Burgers are yummy. Boogers
are yucky." (I can't tell you why "yucky" looses the capitalization.)
These books satisfy on several levels: large, uncrowded shapes are
easy on a baby's eyes, while many parents will appreciate the implicit
lessons, while enjoying the light touch of contemporary humor and
hipness. (Though personally, I could live without the boogers.)
(1-3)
Christmas Cookies! by Susan Devins. Illustrated by Barbara
Lehman. Candlewick, 2003 (0-7636-1632-X) $12.99
There are two things I love about this cookbook: it's spiral bound
(big, usable spirals, with no sharp edges) and its pages are
laminated, for easy clean-up. What a great idea for a beginner's
cookbook! Other than that, it's a well chosen collection of recipes,
some classic like Snickerdoodles and Shortbread, others more novel
like Rice Krispie Christmas Wreaths and Peppermint Chocolate Bark
(really a candy, not a cookie.) Recipes include both imperial and
metric quantity measurements. One potential disappointment: the
three plastic cookie cutters enclosed (a star, tree and gingerbread
man) are too small to use successfully for some of the suggested
recipes. (5-12)
Now available in board book format. Unlike most books about Hanukkah,
this ebullient story is not informative: rather, it tries to capture
the spirit of fun and family togetherness created by a Hanukkah
celebration. Although the half-rhyming, staccato text is not ideal
for reading aloud, and the illustrations are not distinctive, the
cheerful warmth of the book is infectious. Winner of the National
Jewish Book Award.
Although subtitled "a math reader," math concepts are--quite
deliberately--just barely touched upon in this book. It is primarily
an entertaining little fantasy, in easy to read verse, about the shoe
needs of the centipede (quite a bewildering subject when you stop and
think about it!) "Where do you buy them so tiny and fine? Do you go
shopping on web sites online?" "Centipede, centipede where do you
keep one hundred shoes when you go to sleep?" The fact that one
hundred shoes can be divided into fifty pairs, five sets of twenty or
ten sets of ten is also mentioned in the course of the story, in what
an introduction to parents notes as a effort to keep the math concepts
"woven into the fabric of our lives." The apparently computer created
illustrations are cheerfully whimsical, giving the centipede hero a
lively town of fellow bugs and an artfully varied shoe wardrobe.
(3-6)
Open it. Read it. Repeat it. That's been the routine here since this
fun book arrived; thankfully, it's quite short. Starting on Monday,
the book follows the week-long progress of a package getting trucked,
shipped, flown and even choo-choo'd across the country. When the
package arrives at a birthday party, it turns out to hold a toy mail
truck, just like the one the package originally set out in. Thick,
solid-looking paint and plaster illustrations give the whole story a
toy-like feel. (2-6)
Back to the Notes from the Windowsill
Home Page.
The Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett. HarperCollins, 2003
(0-06-009493-1) $17.99
Big Momma Makes the World by Phyllis Root. Illustrated by
Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick,2003 (0-7636-1132-8) $16.99
Sidekicks by Dan Danko and Tom Mason. Illustrated by Barry
Gott. Little, Brown, 2003 (0-316-16845-9) $10.95; (0-316-16844-0)
$4.99 pb
Earthquake at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory. Harcourt Brace, 1992;
2003 (0-15-204681-X) $5.95 pb
Noelle of the Nutcracker by Pamela Jane. Illustrated by Jan
Brett. Houghton Mifflin, 1986; 2003 (0-618-36922-8) $5.95 pb
Pale Phoenix by Kathryn Reiss. Harcourt Brace, 1994
(0-15-200030-5) $10.95; 2003 (0-15-204927-4) $5.95 pb
The Window by Jeanette Ingold. Harcourt Brace, 1996
(0-15-201265-6) $12.00; (0-15-204926-6) $6.95 pb
Amelia Bedelia and the Christmas List by Herman Parish.
Illustrated by Lynn Sweat. HarperCollins, 2003 (0-06-051874-X) $6.99
pb
BIG Little; Quiet LOUD; Yummy YUCKY written and
illustrated by Leslie Patricelli. Candlewick, 2003 (0-7636-1950-7)
$6.99 ea. board book
Hanukkah! by Roni Schotter. Illustrated by Marylin Hafner.
Little, Brown, 1990; 2003 (0-316-77623-8) $6.99 board book
One Hundred Shoes by Charles Ghigna. Illustrated by Bob
Staake. Random House, 2002 (0-375-82178-3) $3.99 pb
Send It written and illustrated by Don Carter. Roaring Brook,
2003 (0-7613-1578-0)