THE RAMBLE SHAMBLE CHILDREN

Five children live a shabby but idyllic life on their own, caring for their home, their garden, and one another.

Merra, Locky, Roozle, Finn, and Jory, children of varying sizes and skin tones, all charmingly illustrated in Castillo’s signature style, live by themselves in a colorful “ramble shamble house.” Each has their own responsibilities: Merra, the oldest, who presents Black, tends the garden and tells bedtime stories. Others take care of chickens, shoo blackbirds, and pull carrots. Jory, the baby, sits on the ground in his onesie pajamas and, adorably, “look[s] after the mud.” (His pale face is smudged with it.) One day, however, they discover a picture of a “proper” house in a book. It doesn’t look like theirs at all. So they set out to “proper up” their home, replacing the carrot patch with roses, creating a fancy henhouse, fashioning a chandelier out of stinkbugs, and raking over the mud puddles. The result is a home that certainly looks more proper, but nothing works smoothly. And worst of all, what’s happened to Jory? Soontornvat’s complete lack of exposition, with no explanation of how five diverse children came to live this way, lends the story a classic, old-time–y feel that allows readers to focus on more important things: what it means to contribute to the well-being of others, what makes a family, and what love looks like. Hint: It doesn’t look like diamond chandeliers. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 64.5% of actual size.)

Readers will surely want to join this sweet family.