Jim at the Corner (New York Review Children's Collection) - Hardcover

Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965) grew up in England in a house filled with books, and she and her brothers enjoyed reading stories to one another and writing their own. In America, Farjeon’s best-known work may be the hymn Morning Has Broken,” later recorded by Cat Stevens, but in her native country she is beloved as the author of Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep and Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard. Farjeon was pleased when her story collection, The Little Bookroom won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, but she turned down another honor—Dame of the British Empire—explaining that she “did not wish to become different from the milkman.” At her death, the Children’s Book Circle established the Eleanor Farjeon Award in her honor.

Edward Ardizzone (1900–1979) was born in French Indochina (now Vietnam) and moved to England when he was five years old. In addition to his illustrations for works by Eleanor Farjeon, Dylan Thomas, and Robert Louis Stevenson, Ardizzone wrote and illustrated his own books, including the celebrated Little Tim series, which was inspired in part by his dreams of escape from boarding school.

Gr 2–5—First published in 1934, this reissue features eight tall tales of ocean adventure, neatly framed as conversations between a boy named Derry and Jim, the former first mate of the good ship Rocking Horse. Jim's stories are delightfully far-fetched, with whimsical surprises to keep readers guessing. All are prompted by his interactions with young Derry, who meets Jim on the corner as often as he can. When Derry talks about a recent snowfall, Jim launches into a humorous narrative about an amorous and loyal penguin he met at the South Pole. After the boy gets a new kitten, Jim shares his underwater adventure with the Queen of the Catfish. The introductions are casual and straightforward and smoothly transition to Jim's more folksy storyteller's voice for the fanciful exploits at sea. Derry and Jim's fondness for each other is evident, making the final chapter, in which Derry and his family bring Jim to the seaside for his birthday, especially satisfying. Ardizzone's black-and-white drawings are a perfect match for the text. A scene of Derry and Jim on the street opens each chapter, and further renderings depict the action that Jim narrates. There's an appropriately old-fashioned feel to this collection, but the individual entries and the book as a whole hold up quite well. VERDICT A welcome reissue and an excellent read-aloud choice.—Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville Public Library, OR