Alice Cary

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Flights of fancy with a whimsical friend

Review by Alice Cary

Oh, how I wish I had a friend like Miss Petitfour, who follows “a strict schedule of fun and more fun.” As her name implies, she’s partial to sweets, and on windy days she uses her tablecloth like a parachute so she and her 16 cats can take to the skies.

The five gentle stories in The Adventures of Miss Petitfour, each starring this eccentric cat lady, remind me of some of my favorite childhood tales with heroines like Miss Piggle-Wiggle and Pippi Longstocking. One scene with an exploding confetti factory could have come directly from Roald Dahl.

This is the first children’s book from Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels, and she seems like a natural, writing in a style that’s full of humor, puns and all sorts of literary lusciousness. There’s sophisticated amusement as well, making this book the perfect read-aloud, with quirky lists and nimble use of language.

Adding to the charm are a multitude of color illustrations by British illustrator Emma Block, whose drawings bring Miss Petitfour and her feline troop to life, making them soar through the sky, cats clinging together like the colorful tail of a whimsical kite.

 

This article was originally published in the November 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Oh, how I wish I had a friend like Miss Petitfour, who follows “a strict schedule of fun and more fun.” As her name implies, she’s partial to sweets, and on windy days she uses her tablecloth like a parachute so she and her 16 cats can take to the skies.
Children's & YAPicture Book

This is surreal

Review by Alice Cary

Preschoolers will love the topsy-turvy world in The Nonsense Show, the latest book from beloved author-illustrator Eric Carle. In the opening spread, a rabbit magician pulls a boy out of a hat, saying, “Welcome, friends! / Don’t be slow. / Step right up to / The Nonsense Show!”

The book is a tribute to Surrealism―on the dedication page Carle pays homage to master René Magritte―and completes a trilogy that includes Friends (a salute to abstract art) and The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (Expressionism). Carle explains, “I appreciate the way Surrealist artists like Magritte showed us in all their paintings that you have to keep looking, keep paying attention. And keep playing.”

If these sound like high-minded concepts for picture books, never fear! Young readers will do just what Carle suggests, immediately warming to the absurdity on each page of The Nonsense Show. They’ll discover a child peeking out of a kangaroo’s pouch, a mouse chasing a cat, a tennis player swinging at an apple and a lion taming a pair of circus performers, with humor throughout in both pictures and concise narration.

The vibrant artwork is classic Carle, showcasing his signature style of painted tissue-paper collage. A deer (with flowers instead of antlers) on the title page is so three-dimensional that he seems ready to pop off the page, and readers can practically feel the fur on the rabbit’s big ears.

Don’t miss Carle’s silly biography and photo on the inside back cover, or the amusing list of “preposterous” words on the final spread. There’s endless fun to be found in this delightful book.

Preschoolers will love the topsy-turvy world in The Nonsense Show, the latest book from beloved author-illustrator Eric Carle. In the opening spread, a rabbit magician pulls a boy out of a hat, saying, “Welcome, friends! / Don’t be slow. / Step right up to / The Nonsense Show!”

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Hungry for adventure

Review by Alice Cary

The Doldrums is a whirlwind of an eccentric adventure tale centered on Archer B. Helmsley, the 11-year-old grandson of a pair of world-famous explorers thought to have disappeared on an Antarctic iceberg. He lives with his parents in his grandparents’ museum-like home, brimming with artifacts from their travels, including a stuffed ostrich, badger and giraffe that Archer occasionally talks to. Archer is bored and lonely; his overprotective mother barely lets him out of the house, fearing that her son has inherited the dangerous wandering genes of his forebears.

And indeed he has.

Luckily, the virtually imprisoned Archer discovers two trusty sidekicks: neighbor Oliver Glub and Adelaide Belmont, who has just moved from Paris with her wooden leg, reportedly the result of an unfortunate encounter with a crocodile.

Archer notices many mysterious details surrounding his grandparents, including mysterious trunks of belongings delivered by a man with an eye patch. As a result, he remains hopeful that his relatives are still alive, and of course decides to investigate for himself.

First-time novelist Nicholas Gannon has created a lavish, fun-filled romp that’s complemented by delightfully detailed full-color and black-and-white illustrations. Fans of Polly Horvath’s Everything on a Waffle and Lemony Snicket books are likely to be attracted to this novel with its likable young heroes and a cast of suspicious and nervous-Nelly adults. However, readers may ultimately be disappointed that there’s a lot more planning and plotting than actual adventure. The trio never makes it to the Antarctic, although absolute chaos erupts in the final wild scenes set in a museum, including tigers on the loose.

The Doldrums is a whirlwind of an eccentric adventure tale centered on Archer B. Helmsley, the 11-year-old grandson of a pair of world-famous explorers thought to have disappeared on an Antarctic iceberg.

Children's & YAPicture Book

A road to adventure

Review by Alice Cary

Lenny & Lucy, the latest picture book from the award-winning husband and wife team of Philip and Erin Stead, is a quietly captivating story about a boy named Peter who moves with his father and a large dog, Harold, to a new home at the edge of a big forest.

While firmly aimed at a young audience, Philip’s writing is refreshingly sophisticated from the start: “Winding along a bumpy road, through the dark unfriendly woods, Peter said, ‘I think this is a terrible idea.’” To ease his fears, Peter stitches together blankets and pillows to create a giant guardian named Lenny. To keep Lenny company, Peter also creates Lucy, and the pair bring great comfort to the anxious boy working hard to overcome his own fears. Erin’s illustrations have a slightly old-fashioned feel, drawn in the style of her Caldecott-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Each detailed drawing highlights Peter’s loneliness and isolation, and then later the comfort he gains from Lenny and Lucy, who look like bulky, bundled-up snowmen. The illustrations are in various tones of gray, with muted color accents given only to the characters, a technique that adds a distinctive focus to this imaginative tale of loneliness and connection, the known and the unknown.

And sure enough, as Peter grows more comfortable in his new surroundings, along comes a young neighbor, Millie, and her mother, bringing the promise of new discoveries and adventures ahead.

Lenny & Lucy is a wonderfully reassuring book about the inventive adjustments that are sometimes necessary to confront intimidating new situations.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Lenny & Lucy, the latest picture book from the award-winning husband and wife team of Philip and Erin Stead, is a quietly captivating story about a boy named Peter who moves with his father and a large dog, Harold, to a new home at the edge of a big forest.

NonfictionMemoir

Living with an invisible monster

Review by Alice Cary

Imagine being a tall, Swedish redheaded mother of two young girls―the apparent picture of health―but for years living with constant chest pressure, severe fatigue and difficulty breathing. In Beautiful Affliction, Lene Fogelberg explains how, for much of her life, she feared she was about to die because of what she called "the monster" pounding against her ribs.

Early on, a specialist reassured Fogelberg's family that a congenital heart murmur was nothing to worry about. Nonetheless, she could never do things like mow lawns or walk long distances, prompting others to think her lazy. Once she became a mother, simple tasks made her feel faint, prompting her to slump over a chair in front of the stove to summon the energy to simply flip pancakes.

At the time, the Swedish healthcare system didn't allow for wellness checkups, and other types of appointments required months of waiting. When Fogelberg did seek help, she was told she had pneumonia, or perhaps a fungal infection, or that she was a hypochondriac. Eventually, she flirted with the idea of suicide.

"My girls are still small," she mused, "and my life has barely begun, and I have been miserable for so long, I cannot even remember what it feels like to be happy."

Thankfully, when her devoted husband Anders is transferred to the Philadelphia area, doctors quickly realize that her aortic valve is nearly blocked and needs replacing.

Fogelberg, a poet, structures her saga well, writing in alternating chapters about growing up with her "monster," and arriving in the United States, where her condition is diagnosed and she has corrective open-heart surgery. Beautiful Affliction is an unusual, riveting medical drama crafted with deep emotion and exquisite detail.

Imagine being a tall, Swedish redheaded mother of two young girls―the apparent picture of health―but for years living with constant chest pressure, severe fatigue and difficulty breathing. In Beautiful Affliction, Lene Fogelberg explains how, for much of her life, she feared she was about to die because of what she called "the monster" pounding against her ribs.
Children's & YAPicture Book

Predator in search of prey

Review by Alice Cary

Max the Brave is a charming little kitty who looks a bit like a child’s clever thumbprint creation. This mini superhero wears a red cape and appears fierce while proclaiming that he's in pursuit of mice―except for one important complication: He’s not sure what a mouse looks like.

British author-illustrator Ed Vere’s latest offering has already been named to The Sunday Times’ list of 100 Children’s Modern Classics, and rightfully so. Max’s short, sweet quest has all the ingredients of an instant readaloud hit as this kitty searches for a mouse and encounters a fly, fish, birds and an elephant, all of whom report that they have just seen mouse scamper by.

Preschoolers will love the repetitive nature of the animals’ question-and-answer conversations, along with the mounting excitement of the inevitable mouse encounter. Vere’s minimalist graphics are highlighted by his bold, spare use of color, which makes Max and all he encounters pop right off the page.

When Max finally meets Mouse, the clever rodent claims to be Monster and artfully steers Max toward the real Monster, whom he says is Mouse. All of this confusion just adds to the fun, leading to an epic encounter that brings to mind Jonah and the whale.

Max the Brave has it all: a bold, bumbling superhero; laugh-out-loud preschool humor; eye-catching illustrations; and a fun twist at the end. Kids will ask immediately to hear this one again.

Max the Brave is a charming little kitty who looks a bit like a child’s clever thumbprint creation. This mini superhero wears a red cape and appears fierce while proclaiming his pursuit of mice―except for one important complication: He’s not sure what a mouse looks like.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Bullies and ecological disaster

Review by Alice Cary

There’s no doubt that Louis Sachar, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Holes, knows how to draw in his readers. His latest book, Fuzzy Mud, reads like a middle school version of Contagion―it’s a thriller that will have readers quickly turning its pages.

In this case, the culprit isn’t a virus, but a mutant microbe of an amazing new biofuel that’s somehow multiplying like crazy in the woods next to Woodbridge Academy. Three Woodbridge students end up in these woods one afternoon when seventh-grader Marshall Walsh takes a shortcut to avoid a fight with bully Chad Hilligas. Fifth-grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi has followed as well; she always walks home with Marshall, her neighbor.

The trio has no idea that a strange mutation under their feet threatens to become a world crisis, but Sachar inserts short portions of secret Senate hearings between chapters to enhance the big picture. Then Tamaya unknowingly dips her hand into the mutant microbe (which she calls Fuzzy Mud) and flings it at Chad’s face. Tamaya and Marshall run home, but the next day they’re dismayed to hear that Chad is missing. Meanwhile, Tamaya’s hand is covered with a bloody, blistering rash that is spreading like wildfire. Tamaya and Marshall face a moral crisis about whether to return to the woods to try to help their lost enemy. Their ensuing search is so dramatic that readers will genuinely fear that none of them will make it out alive.

Although the novel’s imagined biological catastrophe seems far-fetched and the biofuel inventor never becomes more than an eccentric caricature, the heart and soul of this book belongs to Tamaya, Marshall and Chad, and their compelling journey from hatred to friendship.

There’s no doubt that Louis Sachar, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Holes, knows how to draw in his readers. His latest book, Fuzzy Mud, reads like a middle school version of Contagion―it’s a thriller that will have readers quickly turning its pages.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Adventures in Mammoth Cave

Review by Alice Cary

In Jennifer Bradbury’s exciting new work of historical fiction, River Runs Deep, 12-year-old Elias is suffering from tuberculosis in 1842. He’s sent from his home in Norfolk, Virginia, to recover in an underground hut in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. He will be cared for by the real-life Dr. John Croghan, who during one winter ministered to 16 tuberculosis patients, who sought the benefit of the cave's dank air and lived in small rooms built by slaves.

As the world’s longest known cave system, with more than 400 explored miles of passages, Mammoth Cave is a fitting setting for this middle grade adventure. As lonely Elias lies in bed recuperating, he feels like he’s dying of boredom, but soon he meets a cast of characters who draw him into a web of intrigue involving a group of slaves hiding in a large secret chamber and a bounty hunter determined to find them.

Elias befriends several real-life slaves (Stephen Bishop, Materson and Nick Bransford) who show him many of the cave’s wonders and pitfalls, such as the Star Chamber and the Bottomless Pit. As Elias begins to recover, his strength and energy become vital to uncovering a fellow patient’s nefarious scheme to capture the hidden slaves. Elias’ own questioning of his attitudes toward his family’s slaves provides readers with just the right touch of moral perspective.

A map at the beginning helps readers follow the mounting action, and suggestions for further reading are helpful. Bradbury, who grew up near the cave, has created a thrilling underground adventure that’s jam-packed with fascinating historical tidbits.

In Jennifer Bradbury’s exciting new work of historical fiction, River Runs Deep, 12-year-old Elias is suffering from tuberculosis in 1842. He’s sent from his home in Norfolk, Virginia, to recover in an underground hut in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. He will be cared for by the real-life Dr. John Croghan, who during one winter ministered to 16 tuberculosis patients, who sought the benefit of the cave's dank air and lived in small rooms built by slaves.

NonfictionLiteratureEssays

Feeding your literary appetites

Review by Alice Cary

BookPage Nonfiction Top Pick, August 2015

C.S. Lewis wrote that “eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably,” and Cara Nicoletti has made both her life pursuits. As she explains in Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books, her childhood playground was her grandfather’s butcher shop, where she played hide and seek among the beef carcasses, occasionally stunning her friends by pretending to be Laura Ingalls Wilder’s father with a dead pig slung over her shoulder. More often though, she read on a milk crate behind the cash register. 

Fast-forward to the present, and Nicoletti has parlayed her passions into a literary food blog called Yummy Books, as well as this collection of 50 essays about beloved books of her childhood, adolescence and adulthood, each with a relevant recipe. Most of the dishes sound delectable (Anne of Green Gables Salted Chocolate Caramels, Moby Dick clam chowder) while others require courage (Lord of the Flies porchetta di testa, or pig’s head, and a more palatable Crostini with Fava Bean and Chicken Liver Mousse from The Silence of the Lambs).

Nicoletti knows her stuff (serve that pig’s head over a bed of lentils, potatoes or stewed greens, she recommends), having worked as both a pastry chef and butcher. Her blog blossomed from her literary supper club, and Voracious is likely to affect your own reading, making fictional meals suddenly jump into prominence. She explains: “The experience of loving something—particularly a book or a book’s illustration—so much that you actually want to eat it is a sentiment near and dear to my heart. It is essentially what I’m trying to express in this book.”

Throughout Nicoletti’s life, books have remained her emotional stronghold as well as a reliable source of escape, since she’s read everything from Nancy Drew and Pippi Longstocking to In Cold Blood and Gone Girl. Like a wonderful appetizer, Nicoletti’s entries are easy to digest and full of pleasing surprises.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

C.S. Lewis wrote that “eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably,” and Cara Nicoletti has made both her life pursuits as she explains in Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books.
Children's & YAPicture Book

Party pooper

Review by Alice Cary

Bernice Gets Carried Away begins with a zinger: “It was a horrible, dreary day, and it suited Bernice’s mood just fine.” This young cat stands sulking behind a tree while her animal friends enjoy an outdoor birthday party. No doubt young readers will sympathize with Bernice’s plight, since birthday parties can frequently be filled with intense emotions and overwhelming disappointment.

Poor Bernice: Her piece of cake had no frosted rose; she got stuck with prune-grapefruit soda; and the piñata burst open before she got a turn. So she pounces at the sight of a bunch of colorful balloons, triumphantly shouting “MINE!” as she grabs them. Her victory is short-lived, because moments later, she floats away, straight up into the sky, where she comes face-to-face with a brooding black rain cloud.

Author Hannah E. Harrison’s plot is compelling, but the real star here is her stunning acrylic artwork, filled with realistic whiskers and strands of fur, and luminous colors that pop in just the right places. Harrison’s expressive menagerie of anthropomorphized animals is reminiscent of Rosemary Wells’ beloved characters, although drawn in finer detail.

As Bernice floats away, the muted tones of the clouds and tree trunks reflect her ill temper. Later, as Bernice pulls herself out of the doldrums, the world around her erupts into a symphony of bright blues, greens, pinks and purples. The story’s resolution (Bernice learns to share) seems simplistic, but nonetheless young readers will be drawn into this beautifully illustrated world.

Bernice Gets Carried Away begins with a zinger: “It was a horrible, dreary day, and it suited Bernice’s mood just fine.” This young cat stands sulking behind a tree while her animal friends enjoy an outdoor birthday party. No doubt young readers will sympathize with Bernice’s plight, since birthday parties can frequently be filled with intense emotions and overwhelming disappointment.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Exploring the world with Dad

Review by Alice Cary

Young readers are lucky to have a new book posthumously published by Bernard Waber, the talented creator of more than 30 titles, including the beloved Lyle the Crocodile series.

Ask Me is a tender story that’s full of Waber’s trademark naturalness. As a father and daughter set out for an autumn walk in the park, their conversation forms the entire text of this book, with the daughter’s words in black and her father’s responses in blue. Their world becomes our world, with no distractions from extraneous descriptions or quotation marks. For example,

Ask me if I like ice cream cones.
Do you like ice cream cones?
No. I love, love, love ice cream cones.

Dad lets his daughter lead their back-and-forth exchanges in a truly delightful way. These two understand each other completely on their day of gentle adventures: watching geese and butterflies; remembering a ride on a merry-go-round; frolicking in the leaves; brushing their teeth together later at home; and finally saying good night.

Award-winning artist Suzy Lee strikes just the right note with her colored-pencil illustrations, creating minimalist, scribbled drawings that shine with exquisite expression, color and movement. Despite the simplicity of Ask Me’s plot, Lee’s art brings this young heroine to life, whether she’s jumping down her front steps, kicking bright red leaves high in the sky or fleeing as her father pretends to be a bear.

It’s hard to imagine a sweeter father-daughter outing than this.

Young readers are lucky to have a new book posthumously published by Bernard Waber, the talented creator of more than 30 titles, including the beloved Lyle the Crocodile series.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Homeward bound

Review by Alice Cary

When author Jen White was 12, she and her sister and cousin were mistakenly left behind at a gas station for six hours during a family camping trip―no one had seen the girls get out of the camper. Years later, White’s first novel, Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, begins with 12-year-old Liberty being abandoned by her father at a gas station along with her 8-year-old sister, Billie.

The sisters’ lives have been in turmoil since their mother’s recent death, and they’ve only recently been reunited with their estranged father, an uncommunicative, globetrotting wildlife photographer. Liberty is a quick-thinking, likable narrator whose first mission is to get away from the “creepy” attendant at this remote desert location. Running from one fearful situation to the next, they meet a succession of intriguing characters, including a lonely Star Wars fanatic being bullied by his older brother and a truck driver whom Liberty dubs “Tattoo Guy.” Liberty tries to navigate each dangerous situation by writing in her notebook, trying to adopt the defense tactics of various wildlife, both predators and prey. “Dad was like a shark,” she concludes, “interesting to look at from far away, but don’t get too close or you’ll be sorry.”

Survival Strategies is a page-turning adventure story about two sisters who are understandably wary to trust adults as they desperately seek safety. Although this plot occasionally has far-fetched moments, White writes in a fresh, believable voice while touching on heavy subjects such as mental illness and serious misfortune without being morose. There are many moments of humor and grace as Liberty learns vital lessons about self-reliance and trust in this compelling, sensitive tale.

When author Jen White was 12, she and her sister and cousin were mistakenly left behind at a gas station for six hours during a family camping trip―no one had seen the girls get out of the camper. Years later, White’s first novel, Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, begins with 12-year-old Liberty being abandoned by her father at a gas station along with her 8-year-old sister, Billie.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Creatures of night and day

Review by Alice Cary

I have long been a fan of the superb artwork of Wendell Minor, and Daylight Starlight Wildlife is yet another winner in his long list of children's publishing accomplishments. It's a simple book, suitable for young preschoolers, yet full of understated depth in both prose and illustrations.

Minor explains and contrasts the variety of wildlife that surrounds us night and day, painting spectacularly luminous images such as a red-tailed hawk soaring over the treetops and a barn owl swooping through a full-moon night. These images are realistic, yet appealing―without ever being anthropomorphic or overly cute―containing scenes of mothers and their young and solitary animals making their way through the wilderness. A raccoon leads her cubs through swaying stalks of grass. An opossum forages as her family clings to her back, the bristling hairs of their fur begging to be touched.

Unlike some creators of this genre, Minor never talks down to his audience. Each page contains one stately sentence, for instance: “As the sun rises, stealthy bobcat and her kitten scope out the summer landscape.” As an informative nature guide, he also adds a short section of fun facts at the end.

At both its beginning and conclusion, Daylight Starlight Wildlife asks readers to consider the wild visitors that may lurk outside. “Look and listen,” the artist urges. Whether they’re searching for wild turkeys, swallowtail butterflies, luna moths, skunks or flying squirrels, young readers will be ready to do just that.

 

I have long been a fan of the superb artwork of Wendell Minor, and Daylight Starlight Wildlife is yet another winner in his long list of children's publishing accomplishments. It's a simple book, suitable for young preschoolers, yet full of understated depth in both prose and illustrations.

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