Tatty Ratty

The problem with having two blogs is that one of them is always falling behind. I'm sad to say that it has been this one. But my hope is to change that today. I'm going to plan to spend this wonderfully rainy weekend working up some reviews ahead of time. I figure if I have a bit of a cushion, I'll be more likely to post frequently. I'm going to start with a couple of the books that Jeff brought home for me during my ankle recovery.

In Tatty Ratty by Helen Cooper, the story follows a young girl who leaves her beloved stuffed rabbit on the bus. After initially being crushed by the loss her parents encourage her to imagine all the adventures that her bunny can get into by himself. First he hops off the bus, then finds a train to drive home. After having breakfast with the three bears and riding with Cinderella in her pumpkin coach, he sails off into the sunset with pirates (during her bath-time of course). But a dragon picks him up from the pirate ship and sails him up to the moon. There he is cleaned up and his fur which has been cleaned and renewed, is dusted with moon dust until it glows white. After his cleaning and primping, a spaceship takes the new looking bunny and delivers him home. Well, not quite home, but close enough that the little girl can find him at the local store.

I loved how this book took a very typical situation, a lost toy, and created a number of little stories based around it. The mixing in of familiar nursery rhyme characters is wonderful since they are figures that children have been exposed to all their lives. They will get a kick out of recognizing the stories. This is a great story to tell any child dealing with a missing favorite toy and may get them using their imagination to think about what their toy is doing. The story mixes the routine of the household along with the adventures of the bunny, so that we see what the girl is doing to inspire each story change. Each story is really there to show how the bunny gets cleaned up for the ending. When driving the train he gets his buttons back. During breakfast with the three bears he gains enough weight to fill out. The encounter with the pirates includes a dunking in the sea which washes his fur. And then of course the scene with the man in the moon makes that fur again. The subtle foreshadowing leads to the wonderful ending in the store. I loved the ending where the little girl feels that she's found her bunny all cleaned up and fresh at the store the next day. A sweet story that reminds me of the stories I told about my toys when growing up.

The artwork is beautiful, soft, and colorful. The sections will Molly are realistic and although they are colorful, are scenes that we've seen every day. But once the story switches to Tatty Ratty's adventures the rules of perspective and realism are tossed away. The images become more colorful and cartoonish. The scene where Tatty Ratty returns to earth from the spaceship, using a big red umbrella is one of the more beautiful images I've seen in a while. You can see a bit of it on the cover above. It was wonderful to watch the bunny go from his ratty self at the beginning to the cleaned and soft looking bunny at the end. I'm not sure what media Cooper uses but the colors and the soft edges makes the artwork even sweeter. A wonderful book for a child who's lost a toy, or anyone who likes a little imagination along with their toys.

Zorgamazoo

I would bet you have never read anything like Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston.  I had certainly never read anything like it. I picked up the book this week at the library mostly because of the recommendation of Mark and Andrea at Just One More Book. If you love children's books and aren't listening to their amazing podcast, you are missing out. Not only do they discuss some wonderful children's books, but they have some great author/illustrator interviews. And do not (and I mean it) miss their recent Rock Stars of Reading tour. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting with Zorgamazoo but it defies pretty much any ideas I could have had about it. First I was under the assumption that this was a picture book. I kept checking in the new picture books to find it. But that's not the case. The story is a chapter book, full of adventure and excitement. It does have some pictures but they are small black and white illustrations along with some interesting typography. But the most amazing thing about this book is that it is all told in rhyme. Yes, all 280 pages or so of this book are told in rhyme. I'm no poetry expert so I'm not sure what the actual rhyme scheme is. I found I read it mostly as rhyming couplets. 

At first I was sure this would distract from the story. But the rhymes that Weston chooses are very natural sounding. It really doesn't feel like he is stretching too far for any of his rhymes. Instead the rhymes keep the story moving at an almost frantic pace. The story follows Katrina Katrell who is a bright inquisitive child living with a terrible guardian who is convinced she is crazy. When her guardian hires a doctor to give her a quick lobotomy (try explaining that one) she escapes and meets up with Morty the Zorgle, a bumbling creature who's the son of a famous Zorgle explorer. But Morty doesn't like excitement. The two are thrown together on an adventure to save some Zorgles that have disappeared. I don't want to go too far into the plot for fear of spoiling it. Please believe me when I say you must read this book. It is a fantasy adventure that was literally out of this world.

I'm a big fan of rhyming although all of the rhyming books I have ever seen tend to be picture books. That kind of wordplay isn't normally sustained for too long a period of time. But Weston pulls it off flawlessly. Not only does he create a magical book of rhymes but he creates a story that has excitement, danger, and likable characters. I could not put this book down. I had to keep turning the pages to find out what odd situation the two would get into next. The plot is silly and poignant at the same time and children will love this book as a read aloud. The rhymes are just so perfect. I am in awe of the work that this book took to create. The author makes what had to be an incredibly tough book to write seem effortless. An amazing book. You have seriously never read anything like this. 

Edward in the Jungle

I'm not sure if I should admit this but I'd never read David McPhail. Somehow I had managed to get through childhood and life without picking up one of his incredibly numerous and wonderful books. My trip to the library last weekend had me stopping in the M's looking for Meghan McCarthy when I stumbled onto Edward in the Jungle by David McPhail. I knew the name (how can you be interested in picture books and not have?) so I picked up the book.

This book reminds me so much of when I was growing up. I was a pretty imaginative child and would always tell myself stories (a habit that continues to this day. :-)). And in my stories I was always the heroine in some amazing adventure story. I was never one to play house, more interested in playing pirates, or archeologist explorer. I would describe the places and dialogue, so much like Edward does in this story.

The book follows Edward who loves to read adventure stories, particularly the Tarzan books. He even has some play animals just like the ones Tarzan hangs out with. One day Edward is reading on the shore when a crocodile (the only animal that Tarzan doesn't like) comes up and tries to eat Edward. He is afraid but then his literary hero saves him. A very real Tarzan sweeps down from the trees scoops up the boy and rescues him. Then he takes him to meet his animal friends and shows Edward how to call the animals to his aid. When Tarzan is called away to help a friend animal, Edward is chased back to the river where he was saved. There is the crocodile again but this time it is being taken by two men. Edward debates what to do but finally calls the animal friends to him and saves the crocodile.

I love the seemless blend of reality, Edward's house and figurines, and fantasy, Tarzan and the animals. This is exactly the kind of story I would have made up for myself as a child. The moralistic story is done with a light hand and Edward is a wonderfully believable character. He is not a hero like Tarzan is and McPhail makes him very unsure of himself in the story. Edward is just a normal shy bookish boy who gets involved in an adventure.

The illustrations are wonderful. They images are somewhat dark, like the jungle should be, with a rich palette of colors. The colors are well blended, giving a bit of a fuzzy appearance to everything. This provides a sense of energy and movement to the book. And in all honesty this is a book about action. The story is about living out an adventure that you have in your head. The book seems very much like a dream. I loved it. For a girl who has read and reread The Jungle Books over and over, this was a wonderful story. Now I have to go back to the library and pick up more David McPhail.