55 WAVERLY STREET

by Thom Black ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1998

In this arch and oddly phrased allegory, a child joins other neighborhood children slipping through gaps in a hedge around the yard of a mysterious old house ""to do what they do, do, do' '--in his case fix plants, by repotting them. He forgets about the house as he grows, until years later, a weary old man, he takes a hand held out to him through the hedge and finds himself a child again. In Chambers's drawings he is accompanied by a bouncy dog (which he ignores, and ultimately abandons) and a small wagon, full of planting supplies when he's young and bags of money later. In the end, remembering a companion of his youth, he leaves that idyllic place--ostensibly momentarily--to fetch her. Since the symbolism isn't exactly clear or compelling, children may identify more with the dog, always an outsider looking in, than the boy.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Zondervan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S