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nicktomjoe's reviews
945 reviews
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
5.0
A beautifully constructed and very fluent story: this moves from an initial problem - how the protagonist can get her father's attention after he runs off with a dental hygienist - through the ambivalent development of friendships to a pretty much all-encompassing finale. Raymie and her friends learn a lot in a short time over some small-town children's adventures, in which they lead each other into all sorts of adventures which an adult reader can see -not entirely accurately- are doomed to failure.
At one level we are not too far from the backyard adventures of "The Sign on Rosie's Door" and "A Bargain for Frances:" but these girls are a bit older, maybe a bit wiser, and certainly more bruised by their experiences. Perhaps the best part for me is the way that, true to an understanding of children's worlds, the characters come to understand the complex and tragic parts of their friends' families. Beautifully drawn, the three girls learn about how each of them has sadnesses to deal with, difficult situations to negotiate. "Beware of the broken-hearted," said the grandmother, "for they will lead you astray"..."That's all of us, though, Granny, isn't it?" said Louisiana over the noise of the rain. "Aren't we all broken-hearted?"
At one level we are not too far from the backyard adventures of "The Sign on Rosie's Door" and "A Bargain for Frances:" but these girls are a bit older, maybe a bit wiser, and certainly more bruised by their experiences. Perhaps the best part for me is the way that, true to an understanding of children's worlds, the characters come to understand the complex and tragic parts of their friends' families. Beautifully drawn, the three girls learn about how each of them has sadnesses to deal with, difficult situations to negotiate. "Beware of the broken-hearted," said the grandmother, "for they will lead you astray"..."That's all of us, though, Granny, isn't it?" said Louisiana over the noise of the rain. "Aren't we all broken-hearted?"
The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate by Margaret Mahy
4.0
Hmmm.
I really know I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. I can see the way it's well put together, and admire the language, but there was just something missing for me.... Perhaps it was to do with the missed opportunities, and the discomfort of the protagonist... and therefore I'm critiquing my own approach to it as much as I am the book itself.
However, the ubiquitous 4 stars come out.
I really know I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. I can see the way it's well put together, and admire the language, but there was just something missing for me.... Perhaps it was to do with the missed opportunities, and the discomfort of the protagonist... and therefore I'm critiquing my own approach to it as much as I am the book itself.
However, the ubiquitous 4 stars come out.
Lady Muck by Jonathan Heale, William Mayne
1.0
And, to some extent, caught. The language and Jonathan Heale's illustrations make for a wonderful example of language play and evocation of a rural past. On the face of it, a wonderful book.
However, I recall how Helen Macdonald lays bare the anguish in T H White's depiction of the aged peregrine with the young Wart (magically transformed into a hawk) when the ageing Cully feverishly begs not to be allowed to attack the boy. Immensely problematic as this is, I catch a hint of it as Sowk, desperate for a truffle, speaks to "the truffle baby" in a not dissimilar way of depicting temptation not avoided: ' "Let me just snuffly you," she whisper-whispery to him, as has him up her snouty and a kissing him before he can say helpy.' Problematic doesn't come into it, if we know William Mayne's biography,.
This is a wonderful children's book about generosity and temptation and the gloriously desire-laden life of the two main piggy characters. But.
However, I recall how Helen Macdonald lays bare the anguish in T H White's depiction of the aged peregrine with the young Wart (magically transformed into a hawk) when the ageing Cully feverishly begs not to be allowed to attack the boy. Immensely problematic as this is, I catch a hint of it as Sowk, desperate for a truffle, speaks to "the truffle baby" in a not dissimilar way of depicting temptation not avoided: ' "Let me just snuffly you," she whisper-whispery to him, as has him up her snouty and a kissing him before he can say helpy.' Problematic doesn't come into it, if we know William Mayne's biography,.
This is a wonderful children's book about generosity and temptation and the gloriously desire-laden life of the two main piggy characters. But.