Customer Reviews

Larky Mavis

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Down the road came Larky Mavis, mooning about, mooning about." She's a kind-hearted, simple minded, ragtag of a woman with a mop of red hair. She trips over three peanuts, eats two, and when she opens the third, finds what she's convinced, is a baby inside. She names it Heart's Delight because it makes her glad and carefully feeds and nutures it, carrying her baby with her in a basket, wherever she goes. Soon, Heart's Delight has grown so large that Larky Mavis wraps it up in an old tablecloth and carries it on her back. The townspeople, at first show contempt and disdain for Mavis and Heart's Delight, calling her baby, when they get a peek, a mouse, a deformed bird or maybe a bat and as it grows, a turkey in molt, a calf and a half or even a dragon and try to take Heart's Delight away from her. But Mavis is its mother and protects it with all her might. As the townspeople descend, a voice is heard from the wrapped bundle we've never seen, "Let Go My Ma!" and Heart's Delight finally appears to save the day..... Brock Cole has authored a clever and appealing modern day fairy tale with a simple message about tolerance, that won't be lost on young readers. The gentle and engaging text is complemented by his evocative and detailed watercolor artwork in subdued tones and youngsters will be entranced as they watch and wait for a hidden Heart's Delight to finally appear. Perfect for children 4-8, Larky Mavis is a masterpiece, sure to become a classic, and a wonderful addition to all home bookshelves.

I purchased the book for a young cousin and after reading it decided it wasn't appropriate. The book was disturbing with references to Larky Mavis's "baby" as a deformed bird and other descriptives that I found odd. While the descriptions of Larky's find are surprising, the characters in the book were very traditional (mostly men as professionals like the doctor and others Larky runs into). It seemed like a book for a young girl, but the role models were all men. The ending of the story is anti-climatic and doesn't provide much closure (the winged creature simply lifts Larky up into the sky). I was very disappointed with the purchase.

Denise Welcsh
Children's Literature
Professor Jen Welsh
19 November, 2001
A Review of Brock Cole's Picture Book Larky Mavis
Brock Cole's picture book Larky Marvis, at first glance, reminds myself of a pastoral Norman Rockwell setting. A tall, freckled-faced red haired girl stands in the middle of a grassy field with pink and yellow butterflies about while she holds on to a sack which appears to have a rabbit or a angel's wings poking out at the sides. The sack is the most intriguing item I first see. The wondering and imaging what is in the sack I believe to be the thing that beckons the reader to open the book.
The story begins rather harmlessly with a girl named Mavis who is walking down a dirt path and stumbles upon three peanuts. She decides to eat them one by one. The first tasting like liver and onions and the second tasting like bread pudding and the third with what she believes to be a baby. She then shows the teacher of the nearby school and he believes she is showing him and his students a worm. Although, the teacher calls her baby a worm she decides to keep it in her pocket. The next Sunday Mavis takes her baby to the parson and asks if he can christen her baby, in the basket, she calls Hearts Delight. The parson is outraged and tells Mavis he can not baptize a mouse and tells her to run along. The next person she meets is the Doctor with Hearts Delight in a sack. She asks him if he could help the baby to say "Ma". Doctor is also outraged and says to her I can not make your bat say "Ma" because he does not think it fit for animals to be talking. As Hearts Delight grew, Mavis had to feed her baby potatoes and cabbage and whatever Hearts Delight didn't eat Mavis gave away. Every one in the town became very upset with Mavis and the thing in her sack and wanted to do something about it. They all tried to make Mavis believe that they were going to take her baby away and care for it elsewhere. But Mavis remembered how no one wanted to help her and Hearts Delight while it was growing up and she ran away with Hearts Delight. On the way, she met the teacher, the parson, the doctor and they all wanted Hearts Delight for their own selfish purposes. But in that instant when they were all grabbing on to her and Hearts Delight, it called for her to "Let Go Ma" and off Mavis and Hearts Delight flew into the sky.
With the pastoral Norman Rockwell images and the beautiful story of a young girls peanut baby, the story draws on simple times and simple things. Although the story seems to be very untraditional, the pictured and images are of time long forgotten by most, of a person on their porch reading The Saturday Evening Post .

Our eight year old was twitching with suspense waiting to see what Larky had in her bundle that kept growing with each unusual feeding. When the final pages came there was still much discussion about just exactly what this creature was and where they went together.The illustrations where great and also lead to great speculation.

The redheaded heroine of this folk-tale like story demonstrates her protective instincts while standing up for non-conformists and dreamers everywhere. Her tattered clothes with patches and holed toe socks perfectly illustrate the kind of carefree, ne'er do well existence that she leads.

Bold pen drawings paired with gentle washes of pastel watercolor match the tone of the rolling, lilting text. One day as Larky Mavis is "mooning about, mooning about" she finds a peanut in the road which appears to be "a little baby." She nicknames him "Heart's Delight." The townspeople's disapproval of her eccentricity grows stronger and stronger until finally Larky Mavis's "child" is able to sprout wings and fly away like an angel, taking Larky Mavis with him to who knows where.

Interestingly, even after Larky Mavis makes her escape, the majority townspeople remain as judgmental and unimaginative as ever. One feels too, that the name "Larky Mavis" is some kind of appellation pinned on her by the townsfolk who misunderstand her. The ambiguous ending is likely create more questions than it answers. This book is a natural read-aloud. Younger children may appreciate the sensuous feeling of the words, but older children are sure to find much to discuss in the open-ended conclusion of the tale.

Mavis finds 3 peanuts in the road and eats 2 of them. The last one looks a little like it might be alive, so Mavis doesn't eat it. Instead, she calls it her baby. But the townsfolk don't believe that it is a baby. They call it a worm, a mouse, and a bat and give Mavis a really hard time. Eventually, the little thing grows up to take Mavis away from the cruel townsfolk. Altogether, the book has about 900 words.