Just when you think you have gotten a fair handle of ordering a good selection of children’s books, the NYT publishes a special supplement in the Book Review section bursting your bubble. It will probably take me the good part of an afternoon reading all the reviews. So I’ll start at the beginning and hopefully find some books either on order or already on our shelves or maybe not worth getting at all.
It seems that crafty publishers are drumming up business, who can blame them, by commissioning sequels and prequels to established favorites. Three that were reviewed are “The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Emma Thompson, “Return to the Willows” by Jacqueline Kelly and “The Boxcar Children Beginning” by Patricia MacLachlan.
One of the first things that is different about “The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit” is its size. Beatrix Potter’s original published in 1902 was a “little book for small hands.” The sequel written by the wonderful British actress Emma Thompson ” makes the biggest splash possible.” Accompanied by a CD recorder by Thompson, the central plot revolves around Peter finding himself in Scotland involved in the ancient game of hurling with a champion radish-tosser. This sequel doesn’t seem to compare to the original Peter who faces challenges that involve his curiosity and its consequences.
Jacqueline Kelly, on the other hand, seems to have captured the essence of Kenneth Grahame’s original bedtime stories in “Return to the Willows.” She has created a new character, a nerdy nephew of Toad, and placed him at the center of the action. One downside to this sequel, according to the reviewer, Leonard Marcus, are the illustrations are “too generic” in nature.
Finally, the question is raised when is enough, enough. Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote the first “Boxcar Children” book in 1924. She produced 18 sequels, which were followed by dozens ghostwritten by different authors. In “The Boxcar Children Beginning” Patricia MacLachlan has written a prequel that explains how the Alden children became orphans. The Alden parents are near-saintly people whose lives and deaths are, MacLachlan suggests, why the children are so resilient and resourceful. Marcus, however, states that the author carries the theme of self-sufficient to the extreme. Perhaps this prequel wasn’t really needed.
So, it seems that of the three books reviewed, two rated a thumbs down and one a thumbs up.