And I'm Never Coming Back

Carolyn M. Hackland was editor of the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association and lives in Ottawa.

Jacqueline Dumas and illustrator Iris Paabo have collaborated on a lovely little book for children of all ages. The format is clearly and colorfully illustrated and the print is large enough so that an older child might be able to read it alone.

Louise, the youngest child, wants to run away from home because older sister Jennifer has been “mean” to her. Instead of the familiar pattern of some children’s stories of this kind, Louise does not get into the great adventure in the city, run into a kindly policeman, and meet all kinds of interesting people. Instead, Louise’s working Mom, who has also had a bad day, decides to run away too. Thus, the adventure becomes shared and the running away becomes a trip and some chance for individual attention from Mom.

There are no major lessons in this little story, no moral truths, but a child might pick up some understanding of a parent’s world and learn that it’s acceptable strategy to “get away from it all” on a bad day even it it’s only for a night in a quiet, friendly motel 20 miles down the road.

Although the book is well illustrated and written so that an older child could read it to a younger sibling, or read it alone, there are some inconsistencies in the story that some children might notice. For example, Mommy says she has had a bad day at work early in the book, yet on the last few pages, she says it’s Saturday and that Louise doesn’t have to go to bed. Not too much of a crime, really, but early pages show Daddy doing homework with Jennifer and the book does give the impression, until near the end, that the day is a weekday. Another problem which might also bother little ones is that neither Louise nor Mommy gets any supper. Both of these questions were asked when I read the book to small relatives.

Inconsistencies aside, this book is well illustrated, well written and easily understood for children of all ages and could be considered a good modern story for children of working parents.