A Gift for Mama. By Linda
Ravin Lodding. Illustrated by Alison Jay. Knopf. $17.99.
Pinkalicious and the Perfect
Present. By Victoria Kann. Harper. $16.99.
Mama’s Day with Little Gray.
By Aimee Reid. Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Random House. $16.99.
Let’s Dance, Grandma! By
Nigel McMullen. Harper. $16.99.
An exceptional book, steeped
in history and beautifully illustrated, with simplicity and warmth at its
heart, A Gift for Mama follows the
adventures of a young boy named Oskar in 19th-century Vienna as he
goes looking for a birthday present that he can buy for his mother with the
single coin he has. Oskar soon finds something perfect: a lovely yellow rose,
which he buys with his coin. But the rose is so beautiful that it attracts the attention of a painter, never
identified but supposed to be Gustav Klimt, who wants so much to paint it that
he offers Oskar one of his paintbrushes
in exchange for the flower. And Oskar realizes that the brush would be a
perfect birthday present, since it would let him paint a picture for his
mother. So he accepts – only to be intercepted at the Opera House by a
conductor who is missing his baton and wants Oskar’s brush to use in leading
the orchestra. He offers Oskar a newly composed piece of music in return, and
Oskar accepts, regarding this tune as, yes, a perfect present for his
music-loving mother: the melody is supposed to be Johann Strauss Jr.’s immortal
The Blue Danube waltz, even though (if
one wishes to nitpick this lovely story) Strauss led his orchestra while
playing his violin rather than with a baton, and not at the Opera House. And
the trades continue as the story does, involving author Felix Salten and then Empress
Elisabeth (known as Sisi) herself. And finally, through a twist of fate that
will have children and adults alike smiling, Oskar ends up once again with a
beautiful yellow rose, which he gives to his mother, who exclaims that it is,
indeed, “Perfect.” Linda Ravin Lodding has a wonderful sense of story and of
old Vienna, and Alison Jay’s illustrations are simply marvelous, looking both
like period pieces and like impressionistic interpretations of the lovely Old
World city. Jay fills them with the unexpected, such as a man tripping and falling
in the background as a dog chases a cat past him, a stagehand carrying a palm
tree at the Opera House, the Ferris wheel at the old Prater amusement park, a
shop called “Mozart’s” selling stringed instruments, and more. Lovely to look
at and charming to read, A Gift for Mama
may itself be a perfect present – for a child and perhaps for a parent as well.
Pinkalicious and the Perfect Present is an altogether simpler book,
a Level 1 entry (“simple sentences for eager new readers”) in the I Can Read! series. But it too has a
worthy and amusing take on gift-giving. Pinkalicious searches at a yard sale
for something to give her mother – the occasion is not mentioned, and perhaps
there is no special occasion, which itself is a nice touch. There is so much to
look through that Pinkalicious does not know where to start – until she decides
to be guided by her love of all things pink. Then she finds lots of possibilities, one of which, a
music box, happens to play a song that her mother sings to Pinkalicious at
bedtime. Pinkalicious buys it, and the yard-sale lady helps her figure out how
to take it home without her mother knowing what it is, and when Pinkalicious
gives it to her mother the next day, she learns that “sometimes the best
presents are the ones you give!” The simple lesson and simple story are as
right for early readers in the 4-8 age group as A Gift for Mama is appropriate for more-advanced children in the
same age range.
Gifts need not be things, of
course – they can come in the form of attention, of special times with a
parent. And animal characters can be used to show this kind of gift-giving just
as well as human characters can. Aimee Read’s Mama’s Day with Little Gray, for ages 2-5, is a read-to-me book:
although some children in that age range will be able to read the words, the
story will have more meaning if a parent reads it and models the thoughts and
behavior of the elephants featured in Read’s story and Laura J. Bryant’s
illustrations. The tale follows a pleasant, familiar pattern, with Little Gray
imagining that he is grown up and his mother is small. He tells her all the
things he would do with and for her if their roles were reversed, and she
compliments him on everything he says: “I would lead us to shade and watch over
you.” “You would be smart and strong.” And: “I could show you how to make mud.”
“I know you’d be a good teacher.” The book ends at nighttime, with tired Little
Gray saying, “If you were my calf and you got sleepy…I’d cuddle you close,” and
Mama replying, “I know I’d feel safe.” The activities may be those of
elephants, but the thoughts are clearly those of people, and the heartfelt
reassurances will be every bit as satisfying to human kids as they are to
Little Gray.
Elephants are often
attractive surrogates for humans in kids’ books; wolves, not so frequently. But
Nigel McMullen makes Lucy Wolf, her parents and her grandmother very pleasant
indeed in Let’s Dance, Grandma! This
generation-bridging story for ages 4-8 is about the special relationship
between grandparent and grandchild, and how it can break down barriers. Lucy’s
mom always warns Lucy, when Grandma is coming to visit, not to try to get Grandma
to dance – even though that is Lucy’s favorite thing to do – because it will
“wear Grandma out.” But the irrepressible Lucy “couldn’t help herself” during
the most recent visit, so the first thing she asks Grandma is to dance – but
Grandma says no. So Lucy plays other games with Grandma that look even more
exhausting than dancing: ball, horsey and dress-up, Lucy style, are very active
indeed. Eventually Grandma gets so tired that she asks to play hide-and-seek
and goes off to hide-and-sleep in the broom closet. So Lucy offers her a
cuddle, and Grandma picks her up and sings a lullaby, and sways while singing,
and one thing leads to another until, wonder of wonders, Grandma and Lucy are
dancing after all – before they both
go down for a rest. A lovely little story featuring some unlikely but likable
animal characters, Let’s Dance, Grandma!
delights in a special kind of family
love that is certainly worthy of a celebratory twirl or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment