I Wanna New Room

August 15, 2010
Alex has his iguana (I Wanna Iguana, 2004), but now, thanks to Baby Annie, he has to share his room with his little brother Ethan. That's just not going to work out, so he begins a new letter-writing campaign. Mom's reply: Talk to your father. Alex's straightforward request nets this response: "...Mom says girls need privacy to do girl stuff." Alex can't think what girl stuff a baby would need to do, so he switches tactics, complaining that Ethan bothers his stuff. The heart-to-heart talk Dad suggests ends up with Alex cordoning off HIS part of the room (which unfortunately includes the door). Alex begs for an addition to the house, but Dad has a better idea. The two build Alex his own tree house...but it's boring in the tree house alone! Orloff's second epistolary tale is just as inventive and enjoyable as the first. Catrow's distinctive pencil-and-watercolor illustrations elevate the (mostly) realistic exchange in the letters to deliriously preposterous heights. The nearly wordless conclusion is as satisfying as it is unexpected. A sneaky lesson wrapped up in a flaky bundle of fun. (Picture book. 5-8)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2010

K-Gr 3-In this companion to I Wanna Iguana (Putnam, 2004), irrepressible Alex is back with a new entreaty-his own room, puh-leez-played out in another series of letter exchanges. Now sharing a room with his younger brother in the wake of his sister's birth, Alex delivers his first written plea to Mom, who, in the depths of postpartum exhaustion, refers him to his father. Thus do Alex and his good-natured dad begin their own guy-to-guy letter exchange, with Alex detailing Ethan's various transgressions ("He sticks crayons up his nose and barks like a walrus!") and his reasonable father reminding him that he was no different at the age of four. Back and forth go Alex's complaints and his father's practical rejoinders until Dad suggests that they build a tree house together, where surely Alex can find some peace and quiet. Indeed, it's too quiet-and Alex's final letter is to Ethan, inviting him to play in his new retreat. The last page shows the brothers happily ascending the tree-house ladder together. As spun out in the exchanges, the child vs. parent points of view and the sibling rivalry all ring hilariously true. Catrow's zany pencil and watercolor illustrations capture perfectly the madcap daydreams in Alex's head as well as the familiar detritus of a young boy's room. (The iguana still lives there!) A surefire kid-pleaser with a subtle, sweet lesson in peaceful coexistence.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2010
Preschool-G As in I Wanna Iguana (2004), this story about a child tired of sharing a room with his pesky little brother is told through letters and illustrated in energetic, cartoon-style illustrations. Alex pleads for his own room and complains about his little brother EthanHe sticks crayons up his nose and barks like a walruswhile a fantastical double-page image shows Ethan as a walrus in action. Finally, Dad builds Alex a tree house, but once he is alone in his new space, Alex misses all the family chaos. The slapstick, sibling anger, and crowding issues are all spot-on.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)