Children's Book Monday

ROXABOXEN
by: Alice McLerran
Illustrated by: Barbara Cooney



This book came recommended for reading from Ambleside Online and while the name seemed a bit odd I went in search of it and finally caught it while it was checked in a the library.
It took only a few page flips to know that my children and I would love this book. So far I've only gotten it read to my oldest dd and as she is a little duplicate of me she was thoroughly enchanted by the imaginative adventures of the children in the town of ROXABOXEN.
I have a feeling that it won't be long before my children will be playing their very own version of Roxaboxen town in our basement and backyard.
And since I'm a bit lazy and tired tonight I'll borrow the review given about it from Amazon.com.

"This treasure of a story is about magic--the ordinary magic that every child understands: imagination. It is also a story about a treasured place: a child's imaginary town named Roxaboxen. The rules are simple: you make them up as you go along according to the whim of the day or the personality of the residents. In Roxaboxen, "Marian was mayor, of course; that was just the way she was. Nobody minded." The rules don't even have to be consistent--as long as they make sense. Speeding was not allowed by car but "ah, if you had a horse, you could go as fast as the wind . . . All you needed for a horse was a stick and some kind of bridle." With a true child's voice, McLerran uses just the right phrase or word to make the town and its residents spring clearly off the page. Cooney's brightly colored illustrations done in her classic and recognizable style etch the town and its inhabitants indelibly on the page as well as in the mind's eye. Her soft, personable little figures give the town and its story just the right feeling. This book celebrates how children and their imaginations make fanciful things become magically real and make them last forever. Don't miss it."