Reviews - Riverside Public Library

Horn Book Guide Reviews

Intricate collages best deciphered using a magnifying glass and a psychiatric degree illustrate an amalgam of Edward Learish/Lewis Carrollish nonsense verse. This attempt to channel the inner life of creatively rebellious children pales in comparison with those that have come before. Pass on this book and get a new copy of Ruth Krauss's [cf2]A Very Special House[cf1] instead. Copyright 2007 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

Overproduced to the point of semi-legibility, this Australian import folds mannered verses laced with nonsense words into hyper-complicated paint/collage scenes featuring weirdly distorted figures and zillions of clipped-out words and phrases in English and German. Fulminating against the parental "Dullundrears" who tell her to pipe down, Katie introduces readers to Tubswort, Niddy-no-not, Noolman and others who run the "noise-a-matron" in her head-and who, being laid off by their "drooblish" foreman, "his voice most ultra-gloomal," assume new identities as performers in the titular, intracranial circus. Fans of jabberwockish rhymes might stay the course, but most readers will get lost. (Picture book. 8-10) Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 2-4 In a stilted, rhyming narrative, a sullen-looking girl with Ping-Pong-ball eyes reveals her secret to readers. Although them Dullundrears (her parents) think that she comes up with her own noise-some words when she won't be goodle , her rude communiqus are actually generated by the noise-a-matron inside her head and the strange crew of characters that keep it going. For example, Noolman there works the liffin bools,/For screeching out my groigles,/While Tubswort toils on the doo-dad machine,/That stamps my niggly foibles. When her parents shut down the operation, the workers must find a new pursuit, and they decide to form a circus. Unlike the nonsensical words of Lewis Carroll or Dr. Seuss, which propel readers forward with breathless inertia, this book's predominance of made-up terms and the multiple typefaces used make for a jerky and exhausting experience. The story line is nearly impossible to decipher and children will quickly be lost in the mire. Done in an explosion of oils, ink, and collage, the illustrations are derivative of the visual style of Toni DiTerlizzi's work. Much like the writing, the cluttered pictures are also pushed beyond their limits, combining so many elements that viewers' focus is waylaid and ultimately lost. Genevieve Gallagher, Murray Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA