Smarty Pants

Alison Mews is co-ordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services at
Memorial University of Newfoundland.

In this delightful book, Norah is staying with her great-aunt, after
whom she is named, while her mom is away. Related by young Norah, who
lovingly describes her aunt’s quirky traits, we witness the warm and
accepting relationship between the two. The elder Norah is
superstitious, but young Norah chooses not to shake her clothes three
times before going to bed, risking dire consequences next day. Agreeing
to take her aunt’s lucky pendant to school, Norah decides to use it
for Show and Share. She is horrified when snooty Barbara-Jane draws
everyone’s attention instead to the underpants peeping out from
Norah’s pant-leg. Undaunted, the irrepressible Norah puts them on her
head and explains to her laughing classmates that it is a special hat
for people with pigtails. In future, Norah does agree to shake her
clothes at night, while her aunt agrees to live more dangerously by
stepping on the occasional crack.

Suzane Langlois’s cheerful illustrations, with their predominance of
yellows, reflect Norah’s sunny disposition. Using soft color washes,
she reinforces the gentle kinship between the Norahs and portrays their
family likenesses. She also foreshadows the role of superstition in the
story by depicting horseshoes and a dream catcher in the opening scene.
The pictures are well composed, skilfully executed, and nicely varied in
size and placement to maintain reader involvement. This wonderful
collaboration, which effectively uses humor to ridicule superstitions
and inspire tolerance of other’s idiosyncrasies, is just plain fun to
share. Highly recommended.