Wednesday, September 30, 2015

26 Fairmount Avenue

26 Fairmount Avenue. Tomie dePaola. 1999. Penguin. 80 pages. [Source: Library]

Did I enjoy reading Tomie dePaola's 26 Fairmount Avenue? Yes. I think I appreciated it more upon rereading than I did the first time I read it a decade ago. This autobiographical early chapter book is about his moving to 26 Fairmount Avenue. It is not a simple transition, or, an easy move. Because life happens, things--big things, little things--keep happening to prevent work on the new house and to prevent their move. This building of the new house is always in the background. Meanwhile, he's growing up and having plenty of firsts. One of the incidents in the book is of his going to see Snow White at the theatre with his family. It captures what he thought as he saw the story unfold on screen. The intensity of it--how mesmerizing it was. And yet, HOW UNLIKE THE BOOK. So he is both drawn to it and repulsed by it. Finding it amazing and magical, and yet feeling it was missing something. This resonated with me. I liked the flow of the narrative. It has a comfy-cozy feel to it.

I don't think I've read the others in this series. I may need to seek them out soon.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

No comments: