Room Enough for Daisy.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 15 . . . . December 9, 2011

cover
Room Enough for Daisy.

Debby Waldman & Rita Feutl. Illustrated by Cindy Revell.
Victoria, BC: Orca, 2011.
32 pp., hardcover, $19.95.
ISBN 978-1-55469-255-2.

Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-8.

Review by Ellen Heaney.

**½ /4

Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy.

This book is another of Orca Books’ successful forays into picture book publishing. Picking up on the television trend of teaching us to declutter and make room for what is really important in our lives, Room Enough for Daisy is like a Hoarders TV episode for the primary crowd.

Daisy complains that her room is too small. Her mother suggests that its contents are too large. Even after reviewing the clutter, Daisy is loath to make decisions about getting rid of things.

Each morning she climbed out of bed and stretched out her arms. But the walls absolutely seemed to be moving closer. And whenever she bumped into the [aquarium] stand – this happened a lot – she stumbled over her goalie pads, tumbled into the net, tripped over the plastic purse, twisted herself up in the dress-up clothes and crashed onto the tea sets. By the end of the week, she was covered with bruises the size of soccer balls.

Mother patiently guides Daisy through the sorting and culling process, letting her come to her own conclusions about how much is enough. Daisy admits that the real treasures are lost amid the detritus, and, inevitably, after it’s all over, she has “the perfect room”. Edmonton artist Cindy Revell has several strings to her artistic bow, including painting in oil, folk art furniture design and children’s book illustration. Her other work includes Mallory and the Power Boy, and, in collaboration with Debby Waldman, Sack Full of Feathers and Clever Rachel. The pictures here are bright and lively but not exceptionally inspiring.

Two other Albertans, Debby Waldman and Rita Feutl, have collaborated on the workmanlike text.

Recommended.

Ellen Heaney is Head, Children’s Services, New Westminster Public Library, New Westminster, BC

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364 Hosted by the University of Manitoba.

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