Applesauce by Klaas Verplancke
5 of 5 Stars If the spelling of the author's name looks like it's probably from another country, I'm usually right that I'm REALLY going to like the book. I smile and snatch those off the bookshelves SO fast and place it in my bag as if someone else might spy it and take it! In my experience, foreign books that make it to American libraries are usually really good or really unusual or BOTH. Applesauce is the latter. The cover illustration struck me first. Does the man look a little bit like a monkey? I'm pretty sure it's a father and son? On the title page, it says, "My daddy was given to me. He was there when I was born. I still have him." I fell in love instantly before turning the page. THEN it's the pictures and the writing that makes it WONDERFUL! The story is from the little boy's point of view...what his daddy looks like, smells like, and acts like. The illustrations change with his thoughts. In his own words the boy tells us what his daddy is like. And then daddy gets mad and the illustration shows daddy as a very big, very ugly monkey-daddy. "A thunder daddy is no fun. STUPID DADDY, I think." It takes a while and some yummy daddy-made applesauce for the little boy to come around. I will have to order this for my son-in-law who is a GREAT daddy but might sometimes have to be a "thunder daddy".
Dear Jeannie, thank you soo much for your kind words in this review. I'm honored.
ReplyDeleteI wil be talking about this book at the forthcomming USBBY Conference in October, in St.Louis: http://www.usbby.org/conf_home.htm
Best wishes,
Klaas Verplancke (from Belgium)
http://www.klaas.be/Blog/Bericht.aspx?id=551
Gasp! I can't wait to share your comment with my students, Klaas. I am an elementary librarian and tech teacher. We will look for this conference in October. Best of luck and KEEP WRITING! Sincerely, Book Jeannie! =)
DeleteThank you Jeannie, hope to see you in St. Louis. i thought you might like this: http://www.usbby.org/conf_comments.htm#kv
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Klaas