Isabella's bed - Softcover

Lester, Alison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195532147 ISBN 13: 9780195532142

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Anna and Luis are swept away on a magical journey on their grandmother's big bed. The journey takes them past some very special and surprisingly familiar places, and provides them with clues to their grandmother's past in South America and their own heritage.

About this title

About the Author

Australian author Alison Lester is perhaps best known for her picture books. However, she captivated her audience with her first novel, The Quicksand Pony. In a starred review School Library Journal called it "a gripping adventure story, a tale of survival, an engaging mystery, a touching animal story, and a family saga."

From Publishers Weekly

A grandmother's mysterious past provides the impetus for Lester's latest offering. Anna and Luis love sleeping in Isabella's bed whenever they visit their grandmother; the silver headboard ornaments intrigue them, as do the souvenirs from Grandmother's younger days in South America. But their questions awaken "too many memories" for Grandmother. With a goodly supply of visual clues, the reader joins the children on a dream journey through the landscape of Grandmother's sad song, about a woman who lost her heart when her husband "drowned in the wild Crooked River." In fetching dreamscapes rendered in impressionistic brush strokes and intricate detailing, the children discover how each of the bed's ornaments fits into the past. But the somber undertone of Isabella's song never carries over into the nocturnal romp, nor is the voyage as engaging as Lester's Ruby or The Journey Home. Distancing rather than immersing the reader, this excursion feels contrived, and plods--a bit predictably--as the children check off significant sightings on their tour. That they are unable to infer anything preceding their dream (after all, their grandmother's name is Isabella) seems unbelievable. And although the dusty-toned paintings offer pleasing visual diversion, this somewhat muddled mystery tour lacks the magic of Lester's previous work. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0195532147
• ISBN 13: 9780195532142
• Binding: Paperback