review: Morris's Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells

I used to conscientiously not post anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving... but let's face it, who am I kidding? Or, for that matter, helping?




Morris's Disappearing Bag written and illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Viking, 1999; Puffin, 2001 (978-0-1423-0004-6) $6.99 pb

On Christmas morning, Morris is happy with his present of a stuffed bear--until he finds that none of his three siblings wants to trade and let him try their new toys. Then he finds a package that was overlooked--and in it a Disappearing Bag that turns him invisible! Of course, everyone wants to try that!

This is such a fresh, imaginative take on Christmas morning, with an easily recognizable problem and an ingenious resolution. Wells makes it even more fun by frequently reincorporating the theme of the other three toys as they are traded by the siblings--happily disregarding stereotypical sex roles--and by embellishing the cheerful pictures of chunky rabbit-people with lots of little print motifs; Morris, in mistletoe overalls, is especially adorable. * (3-6)

Guest review by Ben: "I like that a girl got a boy toy."