Little Wynne's Giggly Thing

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

Little Wynne lives in a neat and tidy house with her cat and three
adults known as Molly, Kim, and Jeri. While the adults cook, garden, and
clean, Wynne creates sculptures out of scraps. The adults notice only
her messy room and don’t even hear her requests to help around the
house. Wynne tries to get their attention by creating wonderful gifts
for them. These are scorned as useless, until Wynne creates her
“Giggly Thing,” and insists that Jeri listen to it. Soon contagious
giggles have overtaken the household, leaving a lasting effect that
includes shinier floors and bigger vegetables.

Little Wynne’s marvelous creations dominate this story through the
illustrator’s wacky and whimsical drawings. Willms’s highly
original, three-dimensional style, almost Dali-esque in its weirdness,
gives a surrealistic flavor to the story. This is fortunate, because it
draws one’s attention away from the depressing plot. Wynne’s
interaction with the grown-ups is abysmal; it is not even clear why they
share the same house (are they family?). While this book may inspire an
adult to “stop and smell the roses,” the child reader learns that a
silly gift can create a happy household from a sad one—a lovely fairy
tale that belongs in Willms’s whimsical world. Nonetheless, children
may be uplifted by Wynne’s strength and determination, and certainly
will be amused by the colorful watercolors. Recommended with
reservations.