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Susie's Library

 I'm pretty sure Tomi Ungerer was a socialist, and I doubt he had warm feelings about private property -- and you can spot this subtext in his masterpiece, "The Three Robbers."


This book has marauders traipsing through a village at night; they use a blunderbuss and a "pepper-blower" to amass riches. But, eventually, they stumble on a little girl, Tiffany. The girl is incapable of seeing evil -- and her love inspires the robbers to behave in a gentle way. When Tiffany spots the robbers' gold, she does *not* suggest that restorative justice is in order. Instead, like Robin Hood, she says, "Wealth is useless if you don't spend it." And the robbers then use the money to construct an orphanage; happy children grow up on the new property, and the sun shines on all the kids, always, in perpetuum.

A first-rate Ungerer book has: total conviction, an absence of preachiness, and dazzling art. Kids notice, because it's impossible not to notice. I think that Ungerer must have influenced Ian Falconer -- who showed a similar playfulness, and a gift for surprises, in his own work.




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