It's a Good Thing

Marie, the big sister, takes Elizabeth, the little sister, for a walk along the seashores. “It’s a good thing you saved me,” is the refrain throughout the book.

These two thoroughly believable children are classic opposites; one is practical and observant, the other is a story-weaving dreamer. The walk they go on is enlivened by the lives of the giants that Marie imagines, and by a series of near disasters. The story ends with a neat twist that children find very satisfying.

The girls’ clothes are late Victorian, giving a nice paradox of Victorian clothing being worn in what we might think of as “non-Victorian” activities. The season is autumn, providing lovely contrasts between the girls’ clothing, the sea, and richly coloured foliage.

The whole book is a delight from every point of view; and “it’s a good thing” it was written and illustrated this way.