Filled with dismal orphans, rats, and twirly mustaches, 'The Unadoptables' follows the long tradition of kids not being safe in storytelling — and evil authority figures like Miss Trunchbull, writes our kids' book columnist.
But horrible Matron Gassbeek needs a foil. After all, that's what my kids are really after — the child, that one child, who can take on such a dastardly adult with wit and daring, a child with a strong will and a sense of personal destiny, and perhaps with ears that tingle out warnings.Like Little Orphan Annie before her , Milou is determined to find her parents, and she has many theories about who they are, why they left her at the orphanage, and when they might be coming back for her.
Replete with dismal orphans, rats, and twirly mustaches, 'The Unadoptables' is an heir to the tradition of children not being safe in storytelling. Why does this type of book appeal to my kids? When I asked my son what he likes so much about books like Dahl's, he said"I like them because the evil adults ALMOST get away with what they are planning to do, but at the last minute the kids always seem to stop them." And he said that the adults are SO bad, SO sinister, that although they are scary, they are not REALLY scary, not like the things that scare him in real life .
Yes, I do make my children eat lentils and cabbage soup and scrub the floors, but thankfully my kids assure me that's all the resemblance I have to Matron Gassbeek .is just the escape fantasy my children are looking for while they are stuck at home with adults who are far more mundanely sinister . Juanita Giles is the founder and executive director of the Virginia Children's Book Festival. She lives on a farm in Southern Virginia with her family.
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