Alice Falls Apart

Christine Linge is a past director of the Toronto & District Parent
Co-operative Preschool Corporation and a freelance writer.

Alice listens to her parents’ advice: “control yourself,”
“behave yourself,” “help yourself.” The next morning, she wakes
up to find herself sharing her bed with ... herself. This sleepy Alice
is dragged to school with the help of a third self, a rude,
tree-climbing individual. The original Alice has a tough job bicycling
to school while carrying her sleeping and hyperactive clones. When the
teacher admonishes, “Control yourself, Alice!”, a fourth Alice
screams back, causing the whole lot to be sent to the office,
engendering another, timid Alice. At the end of the day, 14 Alices
explode into the house, angering her father, who orders, “Get a grip
on yourself.” Her indignation at this command from someone she loves
brings Alice together again. When Poppa begins to criticize Alice for
overeating (a hungry Alice makes a last-minute appearance), a second
Poppa tells him to leave her alone. Finally, after a day of falling
apart, Alice and her father are whole again, sitting quietly together.

Nodelman cleverly exploits the expression “going to pieces” in this
funny, thought-provoking story. Duncan’s humorous and attractive
drawings feature rich tones and plenty of detail. Unfortunately, at the
pivotal moment in the story, it is not clear why Alice’s stressful
reaction to her Poppa’s anger is different from her other clashes. If
the critical ingredient is love, the emotion seems insufficient to bring
Alice together again, smothered as it is in her anger. Nonetheless, this
imaginative story rings true. Recommended.