by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 01, 2010

Jim Aylesworth has a secret weapon. Before sending his work to his publisher, he reads the stories to his first grade class in Hinsdale, Illinois. His young students must've enjoyed his story about a little boy on a shopping spree. He's going to buy a gift for a friend who's sick in bed - but unfortunately, there's too many choices!

"And then, by chance, I passed a store

That had a sign hung by the door.
The sign read "Things from near and far.
Some things common, some quite bizarre."

It's McGraw's Emporium, run by a kindly white-haired man (with a bald head and a moustache). But it's really illustrator Mavis Smith who fills it up with exotic trinkets. She creates the books illustrations using collages - along with airbrushing, colored pencils, and watercolors. This gives the book an almost magical feeling, as strange objects from the real world suddenly start appearing in the book!

Outside the store, there's a wooden Indian - plus a pot of real yellow flowers. And when the book first steps inside, he spots a grandfather clock - plus a feathery fan, a stack of dishes, and a sculpture of a gargoyle. The characters are drawn with simple cartoon-like illustrations, which make the collages that much more more effective. The cartoony boy jumps on a cartoony pogo stick - but next to him is a real Chinese gong!

"A teddy bear, a bench, some shears,
A little stage for puppeteers,
A sword, a couch, a magazine,
A lamp that lights with kerosene..."

Most of the book is just a rhyming list of things in the store. But I imagine that keeps the story feeling live for younger listeners. Still, Aylesworth uses some words that I'm not sure young listeners are going to recognize. (Dungarees? Monogram?) The illustrations are fun to look at -  but that list just keeps going and going.

"A hockey puck, an arrowhead,
a saddle for a Thoroughbred,
a bracelet with lets of charms
a mannequin without her arms."

Some of the words would be difficult for young readers. But I think the book's biggest problem is the lack of a story. Still, the unpredictible illustrations make it more entertaining, and I have a sneaking suspicious that the illustrator spends a lot of time at thrift stores.In one collage, there's an old Barbie Doll - next to the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever with the Beegees on the cover!

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