THE OBSTINATE PEN

A pen speaks the truth to a series of self-involved townsfolk in this pleasingly eccentric treat from Dormer.

A new pen arrives at Uncle Flood’s house. “Uncle Flood shivered with delight.” Uncle Flood likes pens. But when Uncle Flood takes pen in hand and starts to write, “The following story is all true,” the pen writes, “You have a BIG nose.” This impertinence goes on long enough that Uncle Flood chucks the pen out the window, whereupon it starts its journey through the hands of an irascible policeman and a dinner party of snobs, correcting them as it goes. Not all of its jibes are especially constructive, though one certainly is: “Kiss that girl!” The pen finally lands in the mitts of a boy who knows how to tame the beast through a little honest drawing. The story is amusing and straightforward enough, and the language is a great deal of fun to roll around in your mouth: Wonkle and Weeble, Mrs. Norkham Pigeon-Smythe (aka Mrs. Floofy Pants), the Great King of Farflungdom. The artwork takes the cake, however, with its quivery line work, muted washes of color and Old World finesse.

Is the pen obstinate or obstreperous? A book as much fun to engage as it is simply to follow.