The Hero of Bremen […]

Thus we begin, again, and again. Welcome to boxobooks, children's book blog of Jonni. Join me throughout the year, once a week or more, for tidbits on children's books old and new. If there is a book you would like to see here, let me know, otherwise prepare to see old favorites and fresh reading all the time. Check out the links to the right for more information on ratings, archived articles, or to see if I have reviewed the same author more than once. There is always more to come, hopefully including a comments section and as […]

Although somewhat dated, A Book of Brownies, the story of Hop, Skip, and Jump is a delightful bedtime story for children old enough to pay attention without a lot of color illustrations. Written by Enid Blyton, A Book of Brownies follows the adventures of three friends when they are exiled from Fairyland for being ever so naughty and helping, inadvertently, the Witch Greeneyes to steal away Princess Peronel. They, already homesick, attempt to rescue the Princess Peronel in order to be welcomed back to Fairyland. Along the way they visit the Cottage Without a Door, the Island of the Red […]

First, about the title of this article. I stole it from the title of the book the article is about. Normally, it would be inconceivable, but Arthur Geisert has crafted his book so well and entitled it so cleverly, that "Oops" is the only word that could sum it up. Indeed, aside from the title, Oops is an entirely silent book.

A family of pigs live in a stunning house beneath the bluffs over-looking a wide and scenic river. Because the bluffs are steep, the "ground-floor", a big room with plate-glass windows and the kitchen stove, is supported on one […]

This Monday, I've decided to present a counting book I picked out for it's pictures a few weeks ago at the library. Barn Cat by Carol P. Saul begins by counting the insects, birds, and farm animals that that barn cat encounters first near the barn and then farther and farther afield as barn cat searches for something.

As I said, I picked up this book for its illustrations; unfortunately, I don't find the rhyming couplets of the story very rhythmic, though they are poetic in their descriptions. Mary Azarian has, however, designed and hand-colored woodcuts which surpass the words […]

Well, I took a one-day break and ended up being gone a week and a half. Not exactly an auspicious first month of writing for me, but I'll plow on through. Besides, Kara tells me she'll write an article some time this week.

Since it's Monday, I picked out an alphabet book that Kara found at the library on one of our bi-weekly trips earlier this month. I've seen other versions of this alphabet; as the author notes, the nursery rhyme it is based on goes back at least to 1671. This version is chiefly interesting for its jewel-toned watercolors […]

Like Froggy Went A-Courtin', the essential story of today's book has a long history. In 1761, the Italian satirist and playwright Carlo Gozzi adapted a fairy tale collected by Giambattista Basile sometime before his death in 1632 into the play Analisi riflessiva della fiaba L'amore delle tre melarance, the latter part of which translates as 'the love for three oranges'. It was a hit. In 1919, Sergei Prokofiev produced the opera Любовь к трём апельсинам, or 'The Love for Three Oranges', based in turn on Gozzi's play.

Eight decades or so later, Elzbieta Gaudasinska illustrated and (I think; frankly, I'm not sure who did) adapted the libretta of the opera to create the children's book The Love for Three Oranges. So when I started in on the book, I expected it to be good.

I wasn't disappointed. On the one hand, the story feels a little disconnected and purposeless. On the other hand, a little research revealed that this was probably an essential characteristic of the play and opera: the genre is supposed to create a sense of spontaneous comedy, and besides, the disconnectedness doesn't really hurt the entertainment at all. In a way, it enriches the story for the plot to be unexpectedly jerky: more like an opera, in fact, than a book.

The tale which emerges from the frame story of a traveling theater is one of a sick and sickly prince who has never laughed and is dying because he cannot find humor in anything. The greatest clowns in the land are brought before him without success. Fata Morgana, a mischievous witch. creeps into the room ready to wreak havoc when she trips and falls, her skirts flying up to display the most ridiculous stripy knickers ever. The prince roars with laughter, is cursed with a love for three oranges, and blown out into a desert with only the court jester for a companion. It's great.

One caution. The text is long, and probably will want acting out or funny voices. It probably won't be enjoyed nearly as much read alone. Besides, it will make adults laugh too.

Note: I found a lot of information about the story and its evolution on Wikipedia. If you like digging into old stories half as much as I do, you'll have a ball. Just search for "the love for three oranges" or click here. […]

When a priceless painting is stolen from a country house, Dame Agatha, of course, immediately calls in Detective Inspector McGroom. Tracing the clues from A to Z, the Inspector methodically winds his way through the alphabet in Doug Cushman's The ABC Mystery.

Though The ABC Mystery, like many other alphabet books, is written in rhyming couplets, it gains distinction when McGroom, that inestimable defender of the law, solves the case in them. Undaunted by suspicious footprints, an eerie abandoned manor, and a dark tunnel, McGroom braves the way forward, trusty umbrella and Dame Agatha in tow, to capture the thief […]

An adventure of warts, ruffs, executioners, and midnight parties on river barges, Gregory Roger's The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard is the "silent" story of a young soccer-practicing boy who follows his errant ball into an old, boarded up theater. Discovering the joys of the actor, he wanders around the back stage in an old costume until his ball rolls through the stage curtain. Running after it, he finds himself center-stage in the first act of a Shakespearean play.

Fleeing the bard—furious at the ruin of his play—the boy meets and frees a bear kept in a cage near the Globe Theater. Together, they set off across London to see the sights of the city. Along the way, they dance for pennies in the street, save a baron from imprisonment and execution, and even teach the Queen new games.

Since there is no verbal narrative, the book relies on detailed illustrations, often eight or nine to a page, to convey the action and emotion of the characters. As such, The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard is an excellent book for young children when no one is available to read to them: in the car, for instance, or while dinner is prepared. In addition to offering literary entertainment, the focus of the characters on "dressing up" may provide opportunity for further self-amusement while children pretend to be actors in an Elizabethan play. A cape and tights, as the story shows, can take one a very long way. —AS […]

Froggy Went A-Courtin' by Kevin O'Malley is an adaptation of the folk song often of the same name. While the song seems to have had a varied history as a satire of country gentry or Queen Elizabeth I, O'Malley illustrates the plot as a story of Frog's daring gangsteresque bank robbery and subsequent wooing of the glamorous and high-rolling Miss Mousie. The illustrations are superb and set the city underworld tone with busy, almost frantic motion and plenty of shadow. Frog's swaggering walk and pencil mustache dominate the pictures throughout the story, making his downfall and […]