Sara Pennypacker, illustrations by Daniel Salmieri Balzer + Bray Fiction, CH Humor/Picture Book Themes: Circuses ****+
Description
Mr. and Mrs. Dullard have gone out of their way to raise their three children in the safest, most boring manner possible... but then they discover
the kids reading exciting books about the circus - and even, horror of horrors, wanting to play outside and go to school! Fearing the neighborhood
has become too exciting, they move to a newer, even duller town - but can they protect Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud?
Review
Another quick read during down time at work. This is a fun jab at overprotective parenting; the Dullards give their children blank paper to read
instead of books, demand the paint store mix an even duller color than gray or beige, and realize the neighborhood's become too hectic when they see a
snail crossing the driveway. No matter how hard they try, though, it seems the kids find ways to rebel. One can only wish all children of such parents
could find the escape that the little Dullards eventually discover...
Sara Pennypacker, illustrations by Jon Klassen Balzer + Bray Fiction, CH? General Fiction Themes: Anthropomorphism, Canids, Retro Tales ****
Description
Young Peter and Pax, the fox he raised from an orphaned kit, are inseparable... until Peter's dad leaves to fight in the war, and forces the boy to
abandon the fox on a remote roadside. But Peter can't stop thinking about his friend. Certain the fox will die without him, he runs away from
home.
Pax can't understand what happened; one moment, he was playing with his human Peter, and the next the boy disappeared. Surely he'll be back soon... but,
in the meantime, the fox must figure out how to survive. He never even learned to hunt or seek water on his own, and meeting other foxes - who resent
the stink of human on his fur - only make him feel more a stranger... but something about the wild calls to him.
Meanwhile, the war creeps ever closer, a faceless force that may destroy the boy, the fox, and their innocent world forever...
Review
Set in a nebulous yesteryear in the shadow of an unspecified war, Pax has the feel of a classic children's novel, a seemingly-simple tale full
of heart, pain, truth, and depth. Peter struggles with memories of a violent, painful past, worried about how much of his sometimes-abusive father he
already sees in himself, and the things - like abandoning Pax - that he's already done. Pax, meanwhile, must learn what it means to be a fox and an animal,
even as he reconciles his love for Peter with the cruelty all humans, even his beloved boy, are capable of rendering. The anthropomorphizing is kept to a
minimum; animals "talk" not so much in words but postures, scents, and shared "images" of memories. Both boy and fox must do their own growing up, figuring
out their own places in a world that's often fickle and cruel, but in which they each have more power than they realize. Pennypacker never tries too hard
to make her points, letting the story make them for her. I can certainly see this book becoming a classic, one well remembered by children of today that
they will happily share with the children of tomorrow.
