28 —~ Wednesday, November 23, 1988 - North Shore News

child’s wish list
:Oof books for Christmas

“WHAT IS the use of a
book,” thought Alice,
“without pictures or con-
versation?”’

Little did Alice suspect that
books can be every bit as magical
without conversation or pictures,
but she was after all merely ex-
pressing a view held by all
children (and not just a few
adults).

Readers may recognize the
opening lines as a passage excerp-
ted from one of the classics of
children’s literature, Alice’s
Adventures In Wonderland, the
Lewis Carroll tale of fantastic il-

MIKE
STEELE

book reviewer

logicality. First published in 1865,
the bewildering cast of extraor-
dinary characters created by the
English mathematician continues
to amuse and fascinate followers
of juvenile fiction. It therefore
seems only fitting that a BOOKS
NOW look at this season’s crop of
children’s works (all just packed
with pictures and conversation)
begins with a new edition of
Alice’s adventures.

The latest version (Alfred A.
Knopf /Random House; 118 pp.;
$27.95 in hardcover) of Charles
Dodgson’s Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland (‘Lewis Carroll”
was the pseudonym chosen by the
former Oxford don and ordained
deacon, trivia buffs) owes much of
its charm to the bright and vivid il-
lustrations of internationally-ac-
claimed artist Anthony Browne (a
past winner of the New York
Times’ award for the best-

illustrated children’s book of the
year).
zat

Strong artwork is a prerequisite

BC BEST SELLERS
THIS WEEK

Figures in brackets indicate
last week’s position
FICTION
1. (1) Cat’s Eye
2. (2) Lyre of Orpheus ...
3. (4) Cardinal of the

Davies

4, (5) Alaska
5. (3) Platinum Blues ... Deverell
6. (1) Demon Lord of
the Koranda
7. (6) Dark Tower
8. (8) Icarus Agenda ....
9, (10) eae and the

NON-FICTION

1. (D Aretic Grail

2. (2) Fishing With
Jobn

3. 3) Brief History of

Beattie/Geiger
6. (7) Ed Broadbent:

Pursuit of Power ....Steed
7. (10) Conirepreneurs ... Francis
8. (6) Reign of Error ...

9. (8) Grand Slam
Best of Bridge

10. (9) Duchess of Windsor
(Her Secret Life) . Higham

As compiled by
United Communications Research Inc.

- Weston .

for success in the children’s book
market and the following titles of-
fer some of the best to be seen in
‘kiddie lit.’ this year.

Could You Stop Josephine? (23
£2.; ages 4 to 8; $12.95 in hard-
cover) and Simon and the
Snowflakes (22 pp.; ages 3-plus;
$9.95 in hardcover) are both from
Tundra Books and both available
in French-language editions
(Pourrais-Tu Arreter Josephine?
and Simon et Les Flocons de
Neige, respectively).

Could You Stop Josephine? is
the frolicking tale of a young boy’s
pursuit of a wayward cat in the
countryside, illustrated beautifully
by Canadian artist Stephane
Poulin.

As is the case with the magnifi-
cent artwork in Simon and the
Snowflakes (by another Canadian
illustration giant, Gilles Tibo),
Poulin’s illustrations are more than
striking enough to stand alone on
their strength as pure art. Tibo’s
story, by the way, is a whimsical
story of little Simon's attempts to
count all the snowflakes during a
snowstorm.

Continuing the theme of i!-
lustrative excellence is another
Alfred A. Knopf /Random House
title, A Week of Raccoons (31 pp.;
ages 4 to 6; $16.95 in hardcover).
In this brief tale, written by Gloria
Whelan with nictures by Lyan
Munsinger, an elderly rural couple
by the names of Mr. and Mrs.
Twerkle (not related to the Tiddley
Cove Twerkles of course) contend
with the mischievous antics of a
family of raccoons hell-bent on
poking their noses everywhere
they don’t belong.

A Week of Raccoons is good fun
and the furry central characters
are amusingly and accurately por-
trayed by artist Munsinger.

eee

ACCLAIMED AS AN
“OUTSTANDING PERFORMER”

— FRANK SINATRA

THE THREE GREENHORNS [S

PROUD TO PRESENT:

KENNY COLMAN

THREE NIGHTS
NOV. 24, 25, 26

WITH
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Monday Night
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RENEE DORUYTER

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Wednesday Guitarist/Vocalist
MICHAEL CUMMINGS

Blossom Comes Home is the
fifth children’s story penned by the
world’s most famous veterinarian,
James Herriot, who seems to have
turned his experiences with
domestic and farm animals in the
English countryside into a major
book and film industry.

Blossom Comes Home (Michael
Joseph/London; 31 pp.; ages five-
plus ; $12.95 in hardcover)
features Herriot and his encounter
with a Yorkshire farmer who has a
change of heart about sending an
aging cow (the Blossom of the
book’s title) to the slaughterhouse.
This is vintage Herriot delivering to
young readers a tale originally in-

*
ee {CE CAPADES Vancouver Ticket Centre, 630 Hamilton Street,
, Vancouver. British Columbia V6B 2R3

he Ticket Centre for Adult tickets at $

Bc oF Youth tickets at S.

are rene

cluded in one of the author's first
books, Vets Might Fly.

Parents and their progeny are by
now quite familiar with the ex-
ploits of Alistair, an impeccably-
attired young boy who appeared
in three earlier books detailing his
off-beat adventures: Alistair’s
Elephant, Alistair’s Time Machine
and Alistair In Outer Space. Well,
Alistair’s back in Alistair Under-
water (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin;

See Children’s
Page 32

each, and Senior Citizen

@ach. Plus $1.25 per ticket advance booking fee.

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