Queen on Wednesday

March 24, 2014
“Nothing had happened since Sunday,” Swiatkowska (Please, Papa) writes, painting dark-haired Thelma staring vacantly off into space. On Wednesday, Thelma does what any girl would—she dons the hoop skirt and starched ruffles of a Spanish infanta and proclaims herself queen. With charming imperiousness, Thelma recruits a troupe of sailor-suited boys to serve as her retinue and selects the royal pets, who pop up comically in odd places. Things soon go amiss, and Swiatkowska paints the chaos in a set of formal, oval-framed vignettes. One boy puzzles over the remains of a chandelier that’s been ripped out of the ceiling, while another peers through a telescope at a clogged toilet. As time goes on, the faces of Thelma’s apple-cheeked boy followers show impatience, torpor, and sheer contempt, but the paintings are never exaggerated; they have the quiet authority of Audubon bird portraits. At last the charm of ruling palls for Thelma: “ ‘That’s it!’ she cried. She flung off her royal crown and stomped away.” A witty and eccentric portrait of ego run wild. Ages 3–8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management.

March 15, 2014
A very bored little girl takes refuge in her imagination, where she becomes a queen who's soon overwhelmed with royal responsibilities. Nothing has happened to Thelma since Sunday. Now it's Wednesday and, bored, she decides to become a queen. Initially, Thelma's preoccupied with announcing her royal status, selecting "royal pets," posing for a "royal photograph," and finding assistants and the carriage she now needs. On Saturday, she's busy looking for a "proper castle" and a "royally qualified" maid and animal trainer. By the time Sunday rolls around again, Thelma's faint from hunger as she lacks a "royal cook." Monday, she needs to find an electrician, a veterinarian and a plumber, plus a nurse for the "royal headache" she's developed. By Tuesday, Thelma tosses away her crown and returns to being a bored little girl. Prominently featured in large, variably sized and placed type, the droll text is cleverly integrated into sophisticated paint-and-pencil illustrations that conjure a surreal, tongue-in-cheek atmosphere. Dressed in Victorian apparel and wearing priceless, oh-so-bored expressions, wide-eyed Thelma and her imaginary assistants engage in peculiar, pointless activities amid mysterious, undefined venues, contributing brilliantly to the overall ennui. Imaginative illustrations fuel this playful exploration of juvenile boredom. (Picture book. 3-8)

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May 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-On Wednesday, Thelma is bored, so she decides to become queen. She announces her coronation; assembles the royal pets, including a sheep, a bear, a cat, and a duck; and hires assistants. Of course, queens need carriages and a proper castle, and with all those pets, an animal trainer. It is all quite overwhelming, and the child soon realizes she needs a whole royal staff as well. It is enough to trouble the grandest of monarchs. Swiatkowska's stunning artwork offers readers a fantastic, somewhat surreal glimpse of a very imaginative girl. Illustrated with multiple mediums in a Victorian-like style, the pages are quite impressive. The large text, arranged in various layouts, balances the artistry of the illustrations. While certainly the story is one that young readers will appreciate, the fanciful and extraordinary artwork may appeal more to adults. Best suited to one-on-one sharing.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
Preschool-G Since Sunday, wide-eyed Thelma has been bored. So by Wednesday, she decides to shake things up and make herself queen. She dons a crown, puts on a gown with voluminous panniers, makes an official announcement, and appoints a coterie of royal pets. But all is not well in the kingdom once Thelma discovers how much help she needs to keep her queenly gears running smoothly. After hiring some animal trainers, a maid, a cook, and a royal nurse to heal her royal headache, she fitfully abdicates and is on to a new scheme by the following Wednesday. Award-winning illustrator Swiatkowska makes her authorial debut in this story of a young girl with a vivid imagination and a week-long attention span. The children in her delightfully weird paintings look like they have stepped out of a nineteenth-century painting and into an absurd wonderland full of odd animals and objects that juxtapose amusingly. It's a familiar story of imaginative play, but Swiatkowska's whimsical pictures set it apart. Hand this to kids who are drawnor are happy to be introducedto unconventional illustrations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)