Up the Wall

PreSchool-Grade 3-- When a young narrator's mother and father are busy and his sister refuses him entry to her room, he simply bags up some toys and food, calls the dog, and walks ``up the wall'' to the ceiling. There's plenty of room, no one to bug him about messes to clean, and lots of new spaces and obstacles for grand adventure. The only reason to come back to Earth is supper. Heller's cartoons in watercolor and pen are bold with color and geometric detail, ideal for revealing the dizzying perspective of a house turned upside-down by a bored child's imagination. Striped carpet in the hall creates the perfect ``ceiling'' for a bowling alley. Doorways become hurdles or naptime cots. Vast uncluttered areas are ideal for model train tracks or castles. The simple text accurately portrays the boy's point-of-view; his family life, though frustrating at times, is nevertheless pictured as warm. Fun for group reading and viewing, the story also lends itself easily to various inventive ``what ifs'' involving unusual perspectives, suspension of natural laws, and childhood utopias. --Claudia Cooper, Ft. Stockton Independent School District, TX
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Heller ( The Tooth Tree ; The Monster in the Cave ) once again exercises his uncommon ability to tap into children's playtime fantasy worlds and indeed to render those worlds as if through a child's eye. His hero here triumphs over a familiar predicament--being banished from various rooms because his play is disruptive to parents and siblings--by collecting food, toys and the dog and scaling the walls to the ceiling. There he can cavort without disturbing a soul and enjoy fringe benefits, too: he can make a big mess (there's no one to see) and he doesn't have to wash (no sink or tub). Heller's first-person narrative is pointedly understated, its quiet humor and overall restraint complemented by ebullient illustrations popping with offbeat details and patterns and rendered in electric colors. His bug-eyed characters are oddball but endearing and his upside-down world, where one can bowl in the hall or nap in a doorway, is well-nigh irresistible--worth revisiting whenever the fancy strikes. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.