From Publishers Weekly
In perhaps their most personal work to date, this fifth collaboration between the husband-and-wife team behind
The Journey explores the subtle, intense bond shared by a girl and her caregiver, inspired by a similar relationship in the author's childhood.The book begins cinematically, with endpapers that feature a girl nearly swallowed by the luxurious appointments of her sepia-toned bedroom. The artist sets her off in a kind of spotlight, her red hair and blue nightgown the only splash of color; in the following panel cartoons, she could be an adult—putting on her glasses and emerging from the blankets—until she picks up a teddy bear and makes her way down the stairway, barely able to reach the banister.Thus Small (
So You Want to Be President) presents Annabelle Bernadette Clementine Dodd as a girl wise beyond her years. Belle's mother kisses her on the cheek, her father consults his watch, and Bea, a quietly graceful woman with her hair neatly tucked into a bun, packs the parents' luggage in the trunk. As the parents speed away, Belle leans against Bea with their arms entwined, the girl's height at perhaps Bea's waist.Stewart wastes not a word as her text sets a rhythm to the duo's days, the first day of the week spent hanging laundry on the line, the second ironing, etc. Each afternoon the two break for a stroll on the beach, and, depicted in Small's wordless spreads, the scenes underscore a bond so strong that the child and caregiver need not speak. Bea invites Belle into her world, leading Belle up the back stairs into her cozy room, and taking the girl to her church, filled with the African-American congregation's voices raised in song ("Belle sang best"). When tragedy nearly strikes one day, it is as though Bea feels in her bones that something is wrong, and when she comes to Belle's rescue, the portraits that follow convey their ineffable connection. On the final page, Small shows the now grown Belle in surroundings much more akin to Bea's special room in Belle's house than to her parents' finery—and readers feel the full impact of Bea's life on Belle's own. Ages 5-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3–Annabelle Bernadette Clementine Dodd, Belle for short, is the child of wealthy parents who have no time for her. Even before the story begins, readers see her climbing down the stairs to kiss them good-bye, her father glancing at his watch all the while. But Belle has Beatrice Smith, a kindly housekeeper with whom she spends her days sharing Bea's chores (creating more havoc than help). While they have specific chores each day of the week, they always make time for delightful excursions to the beach. Then one day, Belle decides that she can go alone, with nearly disastrous results. The rhyming text describes the loving relationship between Bea and Belle, and the woman's infinite patience with her young charge. Small's cartoon watercolor-and-crayon illustrations, most of them spreads, depict a mansion on a hill overlooking the sea, Belle's grand bedroom, ornate parlors, and a time when wringer washing machines, clotheslines, and electric fans were the last word in luxury. The pictures of Bea hugging the little girl to her breast after nearly losing her, the woman's grief at what might have happened, and Belle's efforts to cheer her up are especially poignant. However, the last image of the two shows them still oceans apart, with Bea offering hot chocolate and apologies and Belle still visibly distraught, head in her hands. It's bound to leave children unsatisfied.
–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
