There's a Worm in My Apple

Alexander Craig is a freelance journalist in Lennoxville, Quebec.

This is a tricky sort of book to write. Authors have to be careful not to trip down the primrose path to the everlasting goo and gush of “gee, here’s the most unforgettable kid I ever met.” Sheena Baker has, fortunately, not allowed that to happen.

A significant step in this direction was taken by the choice of Lynn Johnston as illustrator. Her large, clear and attractive drawings are there for adults and children alike to enjoy — indeed, to savour. In fact, as the author says in her introduction, it was Lynn Johnston who challenged her to write a book on her experiences.

And that’s just what she’s done. She’s recollected rather than collected. She’s obviously had a lot of patience and sympathy as well as experience. She paints well the impatience, the unpredictability, the charm of small kids. There are a lot of funny little stories, and they nearly always rise above the “kids say the cutest things” style.

It’s a jolly book and can be read for the light entertainment — and for Lynn Johnston’s fine and funny drawings — alone. Yet it can also be useful and interesting for parents — to share with their children and read together, of course, but also to remind them of aspects of their children’s life at school: the importance of school secretaries and janitors, the visits of school photographers, the occasional awkwardness (and therefore inadequate communication) of teacher-parent interviews, and so on.

The book is also relatively inexpensive and makes an ideal present. For whom? Not just for parents and teachers. Anyone who’s ever been to elementary school will get some warm reminders of how much fun that stage of life could often be.