Synopsis
Despite what her family and friends say, Prudy loves collecting anything and everything, but when she attempts to add one too many gum wrappers to her collection, she too realizes that her little hobby has gotten quite out of control.
Reviews
Kindergarten-Grade 3-A delightful examination of a common affliction. Prudy is a pack rat with a penchant for collecting. Unlike her peers who maintain one or two selective collections, she hoards everything under the sun. As one might expect, things ultimately get out of control, trying even the patience of her tolerant parents. When the youngster finds a silver gum wrapper on the ground, she must add it to her shiny-things collection immediately. It turns out to be the catalyst for an explosion that rocks her crammed-full room and blows her treasures all over the globe. Even Prudy has to acknowledge that perhaps she does have a problem; she regroups, does some research, and comes up with a wildly inventive solution-the Prudy Museum of Indescribable Wonderment. Wacky, colorful art with some of the characters displaying Edward Goreyesque touches adds tremendous fun to this wonderfully nontherapeutic, irreverent tale. Prudy is a true eccentric-and more power to her.
Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A creative and resourceful heroine turns an obsession into an asset in this funny entry from a debut author and illustrator. "Prudy seemed like a normal little girl.... But Prudy collected things." The gently ironic text demonstrates that while collecting is natural ("Prudy's friend Egbert collected butterflies. So did Prudy"), it's the excess that becomes problematic ("Belinda had a stamp collection. So did Prudy... Prudy collected everything"). Thoroughly detailed and delightfully deadpan pencil-and-gouache pictures show Prudy racking up her treasures: "She saved rocks, feathers, leaves, twigs, dead bugs, and old flowers. She kept a box full of interesting fungi in the bottom drawer of her dresser." Finally, when her bedroom door bursts (a series of wordless vignettes shows an explosion of prized possessions being redistributed across the universe), Prudy hits upon a solution: the Prudy Museum of Indescribable Wonderment. In an impressive debut, Armstrong-Ellis has created an endearingly neurotic heroine ("There is no problem!" shouts Prudy at suggestions that she might be a wee bit obsessed). The story reaches zeniths of daffiness several times (she visits a "rock collection" that bears an uncanny resemblance to Stonehenge) but Armstrong-Ellis manages the tone and pacing skillfully, so the comedy never overwhelms the story's all-too-authentic underpinnings. A nudge and tickle in the ribs for packrats of all ages-and the people who tolerate them-from a breakout talent. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
K-Gr. 2. Like other children her age, Prudy collects things. However, Prudy collects anything and everything, from pencils to snow globes to tufts of hair from different breeds of dogs. Much to the dismay of those around her, Prudy insists, "There is no problem!" But one day Prudy tries to squeeze just one more shiny gum wrapper into her over-packed room, and after the room explodes with an enormous bang, she begins thinking about what to do with all her glorious stuff. It is her solution--The Prudy Museum of Indescribable Wonderment--that offers children a whimsical look at a fantasy fulfilled. Armstrong-Ellis' gouache and colored-pencil illustrations are full of fun and farce, packed with lots of lively detail to draw kids into Prudy's astonishing collection. Kathy Broderick
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