Review of the Day: Scribble (Part Two)
The obvious equivalent to this book right off the top of my head would have to be something like The Three Pigs by David Wiesner. Other similarities include books like Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg. I wouldn’t say that it was common for a character in a book to be aware of their status on a page, but at the very least it’s not viewed as too complex for children to understand. The real lure of "Scribble" is that even as the realistic main character starts interacting with her drawn cat scribble, we totally believe in her journey. It’s easy to interpret this story as the way in which Lucie deals with her guilt over scribbling over her sister’s picture and concocts this complex narrative of rescue and marriage as a kind of therapeutic release. Either that or it just a fun book for fun kids. No reason why it can’t be both, to my mind. It’s a remarkable package hiding within the most deceptively simple premise I’ve run across this year. It’s a book that’s smart enough for adults and kid-centric enough for its intended audience. A sleeper hit that I seriously hope you will not miss.
-
See Deborah Freedman’s Scribble page.
Filed under: Reviews
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Tegan and Sara: Crush | Review
The Seven Bills That Will Safeguard the Future of School Librarianship
Take Five: Dogs in Middle Grade Novels
Gayle Forman Visits The Yarn!
ADVERTISEMENT