  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 08/01/2018 *Starred Review* Young Alice, with her boundless imagination and energy, appears to rule the roost in her interracial family of four. On a particularly snowy day, when the family is housebound, Alice comes up with a variety of activities to while away the hours, and creating a book about King Alice and her adventures is the one she decides to pursue. She and her indulgent dad write and illustrate several chapters about “King Alice the First! A-a-a-n-d . . . the royal brave knights!” which include a tea party, pirates, and unicorns. Caldecott medalist Cordell (Wolf in the Snow, 2017) offers up engaging illustrations in watercolor, colored pencil, markers, and pen-and-ink that are enjoyably reminiscent of both Tony Ross and Quentin Blake. Alice, who is full of creative ideas, uses her scepter as a backscratcher, while her patient father wears a tiara, a necklace, and red earrings. The day is segmented into specified periods: breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time, bath time, and bed time, with the addition of a 15-minute time-out after a frantic unicorn stampedes into Dad. Cordell’s title pays delightful homage to books, writing, and illustrating, while revealing a happy, pajama-clad family spending a fun-filled, though frenetic, day together. - Copyright 2018 Booklist. School Library Journal - 08/01/2018 PreS-Gr 2—King Alice (as she insists on being called) is considerably more excited about being stuck inside on a snow day than her father is. Nonetheless, he gamely goes along with her demands for his constant attention while Mom tends to the baby and everyone's nutritional needs. The king and Sir Dad compose and illustrate an extensive chronicle of their pursuits from tea parties to pirate battles to unicorn stampedes. The best fun here is in Cordell's cartooned illustrations of the biracial family who never get out of their pajamas until bath time. King Alice crayons the visuals of her story on lined paper while Sir Dad transcribes her text. In the framing story, readers see their real world setting complete with burping baby, ginger cat, and a floor strewn with toys. From the first spread of the unshaven father, yawning and scratching his butt while his daughter informs him that she's to be addressed as "King Alice the First," kids will know that they are in for a wild ride through a little girl's fecund imagination. That Sir Dad is such a willing accomplice (but not a complete pushover) makes this cozy story a delight to share in multiple readings. VERDICT This delightful book-within-a-book will inspire domestic mayhem while enduring a snow day. A must-have.—Miriam Lang Budin, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
 |