Skip to main content

Liars and Saints

After "Weekend with Wendell," Kevin Henkes returned with a *second* mouse masterpiece.


This one seems to tip a hat--boldly--to Beverly Cleary. Cleary wrote "Ramona the Brave"; Henkes wrote "Sheila Rae, the Brave." And, indeed, Sheila Rae has courage. She enjoys studying lightning during a storm, and she dares to giggle when the principal walks by. She imagines that her maraschino cherries are the eyes of dead bears (and she eats five).


The biggest transgression: Sheila Rae announces she will walk him by a NEW UNAUTHORIZED ROUTE.


(You really travel back to childhood here. Sheila Rae shivers with excitement as she "crosses streets" and "turns corners." Oh, to derive a thrill from having crossed a new street!)


Of course, Sheila Rae doesn't really know herself, and her story takes a shocking turn. But Sheila Rae's sister comes to the rescue--Friends can embolden each other--and all ends well. Big sis and little sis walk into their house--and they do it in a sassy way, "backwards....with their eyes closed."


I love this story because it reminds us that a five-minute trip from school to home really can be an adventure for a child. (Sheila Rae pretends a tree is a monster, and she "snaps off its fingers.") I also like this book for its world-building: Though we don't spend much time with Wendell and Sophie, former antagonists, we learn from some graffiti that the two are now in love.)


I'm eager for Josh to be old enough to actually discuss these stories.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...
2 comments
Read more

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...
Post a Comment
Read more