The Mole Sisters and the Question

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

With two new titles published this year, Roslyn Schwartz’s Mole
Sisters series for preschoolers now runs to eight books. Text and
illustrations partner one another in these volumes like ham and eggs.

The Mole Sisters and the Cool Breeze encapsulates the essence of heat
and humidity, and the lassitude they induce. The moles, despite their
largely underground life, find it “HOT. VERY.” They would welcome a
breeze, but have not had one for weeks. They fan first themselves, then
some dandelions gone to seed, and are eventually rewarded by “a nice
cool breeze.”

In The Mole Sisters and the Question, the sisters are thinking. Hard.
“Who are we?” Not fish; they don’t live in water, although they
like to play there. Not birds, although they make valiant attempts to
fly. Not snails, since snails live alone and the sisters love one
another dearly. Big hugs prove the point. Their unaccustomed attempt at
deep thinking reduces them to helpless laughter and philosophical
acceptance: “We are the mole sisters, of course.”

Schwartz’s verbal and visual blend of simplicity and sophistication
is unique. And the brief text and colorful mixed-media illustrations,
combined with the small format, make the books perfect for tiny hands.
The humor crosses all ages. Highly recommended.