The Charlotte Stories

Kelly L. Green is the co-editor of the Children’s Literature edition
of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

This book belongs unabashedly to the genre of “just like me”
stories, with characters drawn from “real” life, having “real”
experiences. While this type of book is no less likely than any other of
its kind to be a superior work of children’s literature, The Charlotte
Stories is unfortunately a banal, condescending, and pointless addition
to the genre.

“The New Boy,” for example, is a predictable and cutesy story about
how Charlotte and her friend Miriam at first reject but ultimately
accept the friendly overtures of a new boy. Thrown into this story for
no apparent purpose is a strange subplot about Miriam’s older sister
Kelly’s bad luck with boyfriends. “The Birthday Party” finds
Charlotte having a contrived flashback about a bad day at daycare.

The last story, “Charlotte and the Mouse,” is by far the best
effort, and is actually believable and funny. Charlotte’s mom wants to
be rid of the kitchen’s resident mouse, but Charlotte cleverly, and
persistently, thwarts her parents’ murderous efforts, only to be
silently abetted in the end by her father. The mouse is humanely
released, and Charlotte’s mom gets in a good-natured joke of her own.
This story is simple, touching, and true to the spirit of childhood.
Unfortunately, Charlotte’s sensitive parents, upper-middle-class home,
multicultural friends, and irreproachable school may all strike real
children as a bit, well, unreal. Not a first-choice purchase.