Review: A Carousel Tale

Title: A Carousel Tale

Author/Illustrator: Elisa Kleven

Review Copy Provided by: Caroline at CKL Publicity

About the Book:  Ernst loves the carousel near his house, and his favorite animal is the dog.  When the dog's wooden tail comes loose just before winter, Ernst is given the important job of keeping it safe until springtime.  But the tail looks sad sitting on Ernst's shelf without its dog, and Ernst can't help but try to cheer it up.  It isn't long before he has transformed the lonely tail into something wonderful!  As spring approaches, Ernst wonders if he will have to give up his special creation.  And if he doesn't, what will the poor dog have to wag?

My Review:  This is one of the sweetest books I've read in a long time.  Children will fall in love with Ernst, the blue crocodile, who reminds me of a 4 or 5 year old child.  Ernst also has a big brother and they have a typical relationship with the big brother telling the little brother what to do.  Ernst is such a gentle, caring character.  He feels bad when the carousel dog loses it's tail, but he feels worse to just see the lonely tail. This story really plays to the imagination, which I think is lost these days with so many video games and tv watching.  Children need to be able to imagine, and this book helps them to see how wonderful make believe can be.  How many children have seen a carousel?  They were common place when I was young, but not so much anymore, at least not in abundance.  What a great way to expose children to the carousel and the vocabulary that goes along with it.  Elisa Kleven not only writes a beautiful story for young children, but she illustrates it beautifully as well.  She used watercolors, ink, pastels, and colored pencils to create the pictures in the book.  The use of the pastels allows the colors to be muted yet still bold enough to capture children's attention.  Children will enjoy this story and learn the magic of imagination.  I recommend this story for teachers and parents of young children.  This could well become a read-aloud favorite at bedtime.

Come back tomorrow because I'll have an interview with author/illustrator, Elisa Kleven.