Review: The Neat Line

The Neat Line by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrations by Diana Cain Bluthenthal (HarperCollins, 2005).

When you’re born just a little scribble, there’s not much you can do, but as you grow into a neat line, you may find you can work wonders.

This whimsical remake of Mother Goose rhymes takes the reader on a scribbles journey. The young scribble practiced and practiced until it became a neat line. Even the line’s handwriting improves down a sheet of paper in one of Bluthenthal’s illustrations.

The neat line, ready to become part of a real book, takes a journey into Mother Goose, where it encounters familiar characters and their troubles. But rather than leave Little Boy Blue by the haystack to get in trouble for losing the sheep and cows, or letting Jack and Jill roll down the hill again, or let the contrary Mary’s flowers dry up, or let Miss Muffet be frightened away from her meal by the spider once again, the neat line steps in and neatly helps them solve their problems.

After a hard day’s work, the line draws itself an nice, quiet ending.

Bluthenthal’s simple and colorful illustrations and Edwards’ spare text pair up in a clever tale that will appeal to youngsters who may feel they’re only unformed scribbles themselves.