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Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Twenty-Six

Every so often a person needs to read something that is outrageously and ridiculously funny. The book I reviewed for today is just such a book. If you have not encountered Steven Kellogg's illustrations before, then you are in for a treat.

Trinka Hakes Noble
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Picture Book
Ages 4 to 7
Penguin, 2005, 0-14-240453-5
   Meggie and her rest of her team are supposed to be having basketball practice, but there is a problem; Miss Peachtree has taken over the gym for her dance school, and she plans on teaching the children how to tango. Her plans don’t work out as planned though because Jimmy has brought his pet boa, and the boa is not a very good tangled…er tango partner. To put things simply, all the children end up on the floor tangled up in the boa’s coils. Miss Peachtree is not best pleased. In fact, she is so annoyed that she says something that really upsets Jimmy’s boa, and the large snake takes refuge in the basketball basket.
   Jimmy tries to get his boa to come down by throwing a basketball at the basket, and then a number of very extraordinary things happen. Could it be that Meggie and her team are going to be able to have their practice after all, and could it be that Jimmy’s boa might be an asset to the team?
   Young readers are sure to love this deliciously ridiculous tale, which gets more and more outrageous as the story unfolds. Who knew that a dance lesson could go so horribly wrong, and yet turn out to be so wonderfully right at the same time?
   Throughout the book Steven Kelloggs’ delightful illustrations perfectly compliment Trina Hakes Nobel’s entertaining story. 

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