Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews: Elise Primavera

Welcome!

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.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Blog Book Tour - Thumb Love by Elise Primavera - Includes A BOOK GIVEAWAY!

When I was a little girl, I was a complete thumb addict. I sucked by thumb wherever I went. It made me feel safe to suck my thumb, and gave me comfort. Giving it up was very very hard. For this reason I was happy to join a blog book tour about Elise Primavera's new book, Thumb Love. This is what Elise Primavera has to say about this title:

When I first came to my editor with the idea for THUMB LOVE she told me the story of how she made a device out of Play-Doh (the dreaded thumb guard) to put on her sister’s thumb to get her to quit.

It got me to thinking that this business of quitting the thumb is something that everyone has either gone through or helped someone through. It’s a universal theme! It also got me to thinking about bad habits in general. I started wondering if I had replaced one bad habit as a kid only to pick up another as an adult. Is sucking you thumb at five or six any different from my little problem of eating an entire bag of Kettle Corn in one sitting? To this day I can’t bring a bag (chips), a box (cookies) or a carton (ice cream) into my house without eating the contents within 24 hours.

If it’s that’s hard for me as an adult to lay off the Chex Mix it’s got to be murder for a five year old to quit their thumb. So I got the idea of my little girl character, Lulu, to come up with a twelve-step program to kick the habit. Being a former thumb sucker myself I had a lot of memories to draw from. I remember declaring that I had stopped only to hide behind the sofa a few hours later to be with my thumb. I remember being so glad that my cousin Judy still sucked her thumb—and then going over to her house for a sleepover and the horror of hearing her say, “Are you still doing that? I stopped doing that ages ago!”

I’ve written many picture books over the years. Some are difficult to write and have to be put away and then looked at a few years later. THUMB LOVE was not one of those. It was tremendous fun to write and came straight from my own thumb loving younger self.

As I write there’s not a chip or M&M anywhere in my house right now—you could say I’ve gone cold turkey. But I’m starting to feel anxious and, and, don’t tell anyone—but I might have to go back to loving my thumb.

Here is my review of this sweet picture book:

Thumb Love

Elise Primavera

Picture Book

Ages 5 to 7

Random House, 2010, 978-0-375-84481-2

Lulu is a little girl who has a close relationship with her thumb. Yes, I did say her thumb. You see, Lulu loves to suck her thumb. It is there for her wherever she is, and it is available whatever she is doing (if she does not need both hands that is.) Lulu even sucks her thumb at her birthday party, which is when her grandmother asks her a dreadful question: “Don’t you think you’re too old for that thumb?”

It is around this time that the snickering begins. Other kids start to laugh at Lulu because she is still sucking her thumb. Even Lulu’s cousin Lili, who has always sucked her thumb, laughs at Lulu. Apparently, Lili stopped sucking her thumb “ages ago.” Will Lulu ever be able to end her relationship with her thumb?

In this amusing picture book, Elise Primavera follows one little girl’s struggles as she comes to terms with the fact that she cannot suck her thumb for the rest of her life. In addition to Lulu’s story, there is also a section of the book that is all about Lulu’s difficult twelve-step journey to quit her thumb addiction. Lulu offers readers tips, tricks, and encouragement to other thumb suckers, and she reminds them “If you fail…try again!”

BOOK GIVEAWAY! If you would like a copy of this book please drop me a line. The publisher is giving me three copies to giveaway.

Please visit the other sites on this Blog Book Tour:

October 11^th – Booking Mama http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/

October 12^th – Through the Looking Glass http://lookingglassreview.blogspot.com/

October 13^th – Random Acts of Reading http://randomactsofreading.wordpress.com/

October 14^th – Two Writing Teachers http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com

October 15^th – Where the Best Books Are http://wherethebestbooksare.blogspot.com

October 16^th – The Book Faerie http://www.bkfaerie.blogspot.com

October 17^th – Picture Book Review http://picturebookreview.com/

October 18^th – Mundie Moms http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Louise the Big Cheese - A Review

Recently I read and reviewed a delightful book by Elise Primavera called Louise and the big cheese. This is the perfect book to share with that child who dreams of being a "big cheese" in the future. Here is my review of this title.

Louise the big cheese

Elise Primavera

Illustrated by Diane Goode

Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Simon and Schuster, 2009, 978-1-4169-7180-1

Louise Cheese lives in a “modest” house with her sister and her mother and father. Her parents are quiet people ho do not “like the limelight or a lot of fuss.” Louise is quiet the opposite. She wishes her parents were more glamorous, and more than anything she wishes she was “a big cheese.” She wishes she could have a room like the one her sister Penelope has. When will she be able to have lipsticks that are called “Ruby Melt” and “Divine Diva?” When will she be able to walk “down a red carpet,” and “become a big star?” Somehow, Louise has to dream big and become the “big cheese” that she is at heart.

Then one day Louise’s teacher at school announces that the school play this year is going to be Cinderella. What could be more perfect? Louise will get the part of Cinderella, of course, and then she will be on her way to Broadway in no time. However, things do not, for some inexplicable reason, work out as planned, and poor Louise’s plans are derailed.

With lashings of humor and delightfully charismatic illustrations, this delightful picture book looks at the nature of dreams. Sometimes, despite our hopes and all our hard work, they simply don’t quite come true, and sometimes this is not as bad an outcome as it seems at first.