When Eugenia Lincoln receives
an accordion from an anonymous benefactor, she is not impressed. At first she tries
to return it to the manufacturer, but they do not take returns. When she puts
an advert in the paper to sell it, a Monsieur Gaston LaTreaux arrives at her
doorstep. Rather than purchasing the instrument, he has arrived to give Eugenia
lessons.
The problem of course is that
Eugenia is a no nonsense, seriously in control kind of person. Playing the
accordion, especially given the feelings it triggers in her, is just too scary
to deal with. After an evening of frivolity by everyone but her, Eugenia
decides to get rid of the blasted accordion once and for all. Thankfully, she
runs into Stella Endicot who shows her that playing the accordion is not such a
terrible thing.
By the end of the book the secret of who ordered the accordion
is revealed, but I shall leave it for you to read and find out for yourself.
I read this book at least three
times. I loved it. Chris Van Dusen's illustrations add joy and humour into the tale. Yet there was something niggling me, something disturbing
that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Eventually I realized that I was finding bit of myself in
Eugenia. It wasn't comfortable. I too am a bossy, responsible elder sibling. My
two younger brothers and two younger sisters probably agree that is a good
thing that we do not live together. Somewhere in storage I even have an
accordian that someone gave me. I kept it hoping that my musical sons would
play it. I have now come to realize its purpose. Unfortunately, I doubt a
Monsieur Gaston LaTreaux will come along and magically teach me to play. I will
just have to make sure that I keep on singing.
I suspect there is a bit of
Eugenia in all of us.
Those of you who know of Kate
DiCamilla's work understand that she writes important books for children. What
you might not know is that under the guise of writing for children, she writes
important books for adults. Her Deckawoo Drive stories show how our
interactions with children ensures our own metamorphosis. Thank you
Kate for showing us we are never to old to change and be the best we can be.
For more information about the
series you can read about Baby Lincoln here,
Francine Poulet here,
and Leroy Ninkers here.
This one is still sitting on my shelf unread. My son and I have read all of the Deckawoo Drive books together, most of them more than once, and I can't quite bring myself to read a new one without him. Perhaps I could twist his arm for another readaloud? And yes, I suspect there is a bit of Eugenia in all of us. I am a bossy only child who had to find people not related to her to boss!
ReplyDelete