***Things Will Never Be the Same

by Tomie dePaola

Reviewed June 17, 2003.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 2003.  71 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JB DEP).

Here’s another wonderful 26 Fairmount Avenue Book.  Tomie dePaola continues to tell about his childhood, telling the story perfectly in the voice of a second-grader.

I accidentally listed the last book, What a Year, under Children’s Fiction, because these are such nice beginning chapter books, I start to forget that they are true stories.  These books aren’t biographies that you’d read to write a report, but good stories in their own right, and all the more interesting because they are true.

This book covers 1941, and the title refers to the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I’m not sure if I like it as a title, since that even doesn’t happen until the last chapter.  The rest of the book is filled with the simple excitements in a small boy’s life:  sledding, dancing, drawing, being with his family and going to school.  This whole series is made up of delightful and interesting books, perfect for kids ready for chapter books.  Look for them in the biography section.

Reviews of other books by Tomie dePaola:
What a Year
Pascual and the Kitchen Angels
Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise
Fight the Night

Copyright © 2003 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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