Tag: Picture Books

Eloise and Nanny go to Moscow. It’s super cold (her turtle gets shipped back home on page 8 or 9). It’s the Cold War era so the entire book has a very somber atmosphere. Everyone is eyeing each other with suspicion, wariness or just plain looking angry (even the geese on the roadside). Eloise and Nanny are shown around formally with a guide and translator, and obviously followed the whole time by someone keeping an eye on what they do. They view stupendous palaces and museums, public works, a crowded department store, extravagantly decorated subway stations and the Red Square. Most of the time can’t even go into buildings because something is closed, or there’s no tickets available, or some other reason. And all the while Eloise is on good behavior, which makes this book such a contrast to the others (especially the flair of Paris) that it’s just stunning. I think the only naughty thing she did on the whole trip was sneak around the hotel at night spying through keyholes.

She knew she was being watched. The contrast is such a shocker, it’s worth reading the first few (original) Eloise books just to see how different this one is. Of course, Moscow isn’t like this now, so it’s something of a historical piece as well, in its own way. Apparently based on the author’s own visit to Russia during the same timeframe.

Borrowed from the public library.

Elizabeth Brown loves to do one thing- read. She ignores dolls and roller skates (ha ha) as a kid, boys and parties when older, just always consumed by her love of reading. When grown up and gets her own house, she fills it with books- until there isn’t room for anything else! What will she do? Lovely solution. Love of cats, too, by the pictures. I think it’s fairly obvious why I liked this book so much, the drawings of stacks and stacks of books surrounding a cozy chair just made me smile ear to ear.

Borrowed from the public library.

Another lovely picture book I picked up browsing- just because I liked the cover so much. This was another one with a strong metaphor for an emotional struggle, in this case based on the author’s own experience, as he eloquently explains in the final pages. A young boy spends most of his days in silence, dreading the moments he’ll be asked to speak in class. He has a stutter: the words come out broken, jumbled, confused- or not at all. After a particularly difficult day at school, his father takes him to the riverside and points out that while the river has choppy and rough water, it also has calm and placid moments. Just like his speech. The images in this book are simple, calm and beautiful. I was really taken by one picture that had reflections in layers of color across each other (boy looking out of a window). How the light glows through his ears, dances in jots of light off the water, etc. You can almost feel it moving. I was a tad surprised to find some reviews online criticizing this book for being unhelpful to any child with a speech disorder- but I don’t think it was meant to give coaching on how to deal with the impediment or stutter itself, just imparting a feeling of acceptance and understanding between parent and child. To give the boy reassurance that good moments were among the bad, and he could find his calm. That was my impression.

Borrowed from the public library.