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juushikaTitle: The Puppets of Spelhorst
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Published: Candlewick Press, 2023
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 150
Total Page Count: 540,790
Text Number: 1998
Read Because: came up on a spooky picture book library list despite being a MG novel, hardback borrowed from the Timberland Regional Library
Review:
A puppet troupe moves from the ownership of a lonely old man to a pair of little girls, searching for the story they have to tell together. This melancholy tale has a folktale-esque tone, with sketchy, sparse illustrations and a gravity unexpected for such a petite volume, a particularly evocative wolf and a search for identity and role set against the rather more realistic childhood of officious, prickly little girls. But it doesn't feel like it's really for children*; the girls exist as a foil to adult concepts of longing and grief and, frankly, if I'd read this as a kid, the "transforming toys traumatizes them" plot point would have upset me a lot. Perhaps more interesting than successful, I liked the whimsical-but-somber vibe.
* The usual caveat: don't have them, don't know them, what would I know! Still, let's all count the innumerable number of times I've called a Candlewick Press book not-actually-for-kids.
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Published: Candlewick Press, 2023
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 150
Total Page Count: 540,790
Text Number: 1998
Read Because: came up on a spooky picture book library list despite being a MG novel, hardback borrowed from the Timberland Regional Library
Review:
"In my dream," said the wolf, "I am chasing and being chased, both things at the same time."
A puppet troupe moves from the ownership of a lonely old man to a pair of little girls, searching for the story they have to tell together. This melancholy tale has a folktale-esque tone, with sketchy, sparse illustrations and a gravity unexpected for such a petite volume, a particularly evocative wolf and a search for identity and role set against the rather more realistic childhood of officious, prickly little girls. But it doesn't feel like it's really for children*; the girls exist as a foil to adult concepts of longing and grief and, frankly, if I'd read this as a kid, the "transforming toys traumatizes them" plot point would have upset me a lot. Perhaps more interesting than successful, I liked the whimsical-but-somber vibe.
* The usual caveat: don't have them, don't know them, what would I know! Still, let's all count the innumerable number of times I've called a Candlewick Press book not-actually-for-kids.
