(++++) WHAT’S THE TROUBLE?

Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess. By Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Illustrated by Joey Spiotto. Philomel. $18.99.

     There are plenty of books about well-meaning children who manage to make a complete wreck of everything they try to do to be helpful – and are promptly forgiven by their parents because they are so gosh-darned cute and meant well and these are books, not real life. But the whole notion never really grows old, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones proves that it is still as much fun as ever in Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess.

     The plot here is simple and is not really unusual: Luvvie (not coincidentally the same name as the author) wants to help her super-busy mother while Mom is at work, so Luvvie decides to make a family-favorite dish called jollof rice all by herself. She messes up the ingredients, messes up the kitchen, messes up the stove, basically messes up everything – and when she tries to clean up the mess she has made, she makes a bigger mess. So when Mom comes home, she is – well, not annoyed, not angry, and barely even upset (this is a book). Mom appreciates Luvvie’s well-meaning efforts and helps Luvvie and big sister Kami clean everything up, and then all three have a nice jollof-rice dinner together (with takeout rice that Mom has brought home).

     The underlying message of tolerance for little kids’ well-meaning foibles is the intended “teachable moment” here: Mom is impressed that Luvvie tried to cook by herself, and Luvvie comes to understand that “she could’ve gotten really hurt” using kitchen implements and appliances. What makes the book special, though, is not that unsurprising moral (or set of morals) but the delightful Joey Spiotto illustrations that illustrate all the missteps, moods and mess-making. The huge-headed, cartoonish characters have expressive faces despite the underlying simplicity of the art; the background details of illustrations add to the enjoyment of the story (check out the A+ on a math quiz posted on the refrigerator, plus the nearby magnet saying “Be Too Much”); and when things start to go wrong, the line between words and pictures blurs delightfully, as in the distinctively lettered/illustrated “SPLAT!” when Luvvie’s attempt to cut a tomato with a butter knife goes very sloppily awry.

     It is important for the young readers at whom the book is targeted (ages 4-8) to see that Luvvie, for all the mess she makes, does understand some limits: “Luvvie knew she wasn’t old enough to touch the stove,” for example. This sort of understanding becomes the basis for a back-of-the-book page called “What is good trouble?” Although directly preachy (which, thankfully, the book as a whole is not), this final page does contain one recommendation that parents need to read themselves and think about, since kids are likely to ask about it. The first two suggestions are unexceptionable: “Be your best self” and “Say kind things.” But the third is a bit different: “Do speak up when you see something unfair (as long as you feel safe),” reads the third way to “make that good kind of trouble.” The reference to feeling safe when speaking up could require delving into some real-world issues that are well beyond the scope of Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess, since in the book itself, everyone is really just fine with everything that happens and not a single cross word – much less an angry action – is shown or so much as contemplated. The book works well to show calm in the face of (minor) adversity within a well-bonded, loving family, but speaking up outside such a family unit does have real risks, and “as long as you feel safe” hints at that without being explicit enough to help children who, inspired by this book, may expect much better treatment when they misbehave or speak out about misbehavior than they are likely to encounter in real life. Actually, that “as long as you feel safe” phrase can be the start of a good parent-child conversation about the differences between the everyday world and the book world. Parents would do well to prepare themselves for just such a talk, since kids who are curious about all the things Luvvie does (and is quickly forgiven for doing) are likely to be curious as well about why they might not feel safe in speaking up when outside their tight-knit family unit.