Dreamy Tales
Children’s book reviews by Tacoma writer Rebecca Young appear monthly on Families.
“Fanny’s Dream” by Caralyn Buehner - This twist on the classic girl-gets-prince fairy tale is touching and humorous. Unlike any fairy tale I know, this story also contains a wonderful message about marriage, family and commitment.
Fanny is a farm girl, big and clumsy, yet full of dreams about Prince Charming. Hard as she wishes, no fairy godmother appears to make her wishes come true. The person who does appear - Heber Jensen - is short and stocky, kind and hard working. She tells him she’s waiting for her fairy godmother. He proposes marriage. After taking an hour or so to let go of her dreams, Fanny accepts. Their life together is full of hard work, children, hardship and humor. (Fanny’s fond of sewing up the seat of Heber’s long johns, then listening to him holler at her from the outhouse.)
Heber remembers Fanny’s dreams so he waits on her at least once a day as if she were a princess. One moonlit night, while Heber reads Cinderella to the children, Fanny goes out to the garden to pick a watermelon. Lo and behold, her tardy fairy godmother twinkles down and offers to take her to a ball, where a visiting colonel is the guest of honor. Fanny turns her down flat. She’s already got her prince.
Fanciful paintings by Buehner’s husband, Mark Buehner, add a great deal to this charming story. Look carefully for whimsical figures hidden on each page. (Dial Books, ages 5 and up, 32 pgs., $14.99.)
“Make Way for Dumb Bunnies” by Sue Denim - There’s a gleaming gold seal on the cover of this book. A prestigious honor? The Caldecott, perhaps? No, the seal proclaims, “This book is too dumb to win an award.” Little jokes are hidden everywhere. On the dust jacket: “Bunny-proof binding.” On the copyright page: “The illustrations in this book were done with watercolor, India ink, acrylics, gouache, skim milk and Vick’s Vap-O-Rub.”
The story is just as funny. One day Momma, Poppa and Baby Bunny are spending some “quality time apart.” A thunderstorm starts so they decide to go to the beach. They load their car with everything they need, then take off on their bicycles. Later when the sun comes out they head to the movies - to see “The Lizard of Oz.” You get the picture.
Dav Pilkey’s crazy illustrations are the perfect complement to Sue Denim’s goofy story. This is the third Dumb Bunny book by the Northwest duo. She lives in Walla Walla; he in Eugene, Ore.
“The Dumb Bunnies” is a guaranteed kid-pleaser in the tradition of James Marshall’s “The Stupids.” (Scholastic, ages 4-8, 32 pgs., $12.95.)
“Falling Up” by Shel Silverstein - Speaking of humor, it’s big news when there’s a new book out by this beloved children’s poet. Author of “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic,” Silverstein has turned many children into poetry lovers with his funny (sometimes wicked) verses and black-and-white drawings. Often the drawings are an integral part of the punch line, as in “Imagining”:
“You’re only just imagining/A mouse is in your hair./You’ve got to stop imagining/That mice are everywhere./I think you’re just imagining/To give yourself a scare,/ But trust me dear, I wouldn’t lie:/ There is no mouse up there.”
The picture shows the poet is telling the truth. It’s not a mouse; it’s an elephant.
Other poems deal with a forgetful Paul Revere who can’t remember which is by sea; haunted houses; Medusa; Pinocchio, and spoiled brats.
This fat, attractive book is a great choice for vacation reading together. (HarperCollins, all ages, 176 pgs., $15.95.)
“Train to Somewhere” by Eve Bunting - PBS recently broadcast an interesting program about the “Orphan Trains.” From the mid-1800s until the late 1920s, about 100,000 homeless children were sent by train from New York City to Midwestern towns and farms, where the Children’s Aid Society hoped to place them with families. This picture book, by a respected children’s author (“Smoky Night” and “The Wall”), tells the story of 14 fictional orphans on their trip west in 1878.
The story is told by Marianne, who worries that she won’t be chosen because she’s thin and plain. Her fears prove true. People choose cute, young children, or strong-looking boys and girls, who look like they’ll be able to work hard.
She doesn’t really want a new family. Her mother left Marianne on the steps of the orphanage, told her she was going west to make a new life, and promised to come back for her. At each stop, she searches for her mother’s face, while the other children are chosen.
It’s a journey full of hurt for Marianne, who is the last child left by the time the train pulls into the town of Somewhere. Only one couple waits. They both have white hair; the woman holds a toy train in her hand. Neither the couple nor Marianne was quite what the other was hoping for. But as the woman says, “Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place.”
It’s a lovely note of hope upon which to end an interesting and poignant story, graced by Ronald Himler’s fine paintings. (Clarion Books, ages 5 and up, 32 pgs., $14.95.)
“Tomorrow’s Alphabet” by George Shannon - “A is for seed.” No? Check the facing page: “… tomorrow’s apple.” This creative alphabet book will challenge children to think in new ways. Some pages are easily guessed. “J is for pumpkin … tomorrow’s jack-o’-lantern.” Others are more difficult. “E is for fire … tomorrow’s embers.”
Veteran illustrator Donald Crews (“Freight Train” and “BigMama’s” enhances Shannon’s concept with big, bright watercolors. One design criticism: The book begs to be used as a thinking game with children. But it’s laid out so the clue and the solution appear on facing pages. A better choice would have been to introduce the letter on the right-hand page, and let the “answer” appear when one turns the page. It’s cumbersome, but the solution can be hidden with a piece of paper to allow thinking and guessing time.
Another interesting use of this book would be to challenge older children to invent their own “Tomorrow’s Alphabet.” Shannon is a Seattle-area resident. (Greenwillow, ages 5 and up, 56 pgs., $14.93.)