Middle Grade Monday and Arc Review: Doodleville by Chad Sell.

Image: Penguin Random House

Doodleville by Chad Sell. 288 p. Alfred A. Knopf BFYR/ Random House Children's Books/ Penguin Random House, June, 2020. 9781984894717. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday features Doodleville by Chad Sell. Mr. Sell was one of the authors of the wildly popular Cardboard Kingdom from a year or so back; so fans of that book should really take a look at this one. Doodleville is Sell's first solo graphic novel. 

Drew may not be the best artist, but she sure does love to draw. Readers see a three-year-old Drew enthusiastically making art in her booster seat at her parents' diner. As she grows, her scribbles become doodles with a penchant for jumping off the pages of her sketch book and getting her in trouble. By age nine, she's using rolls of white paper intended for the diner tables to create homes for her many doodles - Doodleville! She and the art club are headed to The Art Institute where the club will study the masterpieces and practice drawing. Drew gets into trouble when one of her doodles pops out and onto a masterpiece. The guard thinks she has drawn on the art. Then, another doodle decides to steal the hat from a baby in another painting and Drew is suspected of defacing the art! 

All of this conflict is added to feelings Drew already has about not being as good an artist as the rest of her club-mates. When her doodles decide to jump out of Drew's sketchbook and into the other's art, things get a tad tense. Then, Drew creates Levi - short for Leviathan. He's huge and toothy and is supposed to be nice. As Drew's emotions get out of hand, so does Levi. Jeweled purple predominates in the mostly earth-toned art. Panels are dynamic and light and darkness are effectively used as Drew battles demons without and within. Doodleville concludes, but with the promise to return. Hand this charmer to fans of graphic novels and/ or budding young artists. 

Blog Tour/ Interview: Lucy and the String by Vanessa Roeder

Lucy and the String by Vanessa Roeder. unpgd. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Young Readers Group, August 7, 2018. 9780735230491.

I was lucky enough to receive an fng of this delightful book and reviewed it here back in March. When I was part of an email chain asking for blog tour participants, I was thrilled to revisit Lucy and Hank. 

The finished book is lovely. The red string is slightly embossed on the wraparound cover. The pages have heft and will stand up to the multiple readings I predicted in my review. 

Lucy and the String is Author/ illustrator Vanessa Roeder's author debut and she was kind enough to answer three questions from me:

1. Do you knit? 
I actually don’t knit, though I did have a short-lived sewing obsession. My poor daughter had to suffer the shame of wearing some of my creations, one of which was made out of a curtain. She’s probably very thankful I didn’t take up knitting.

2. What were you like at Lucy's age?                                                                          
I was a pretty resourceful kid, like Lucy. I grew up in a very small town where there wasn’t a lot to do, so my imagination became the captain of many adventures. I would do things like build forts out of old billboard scraps, or construct makeshift roller coasters in our horse barn, or convert my brother’s room into a news studio to report our own version of the headlines. These escapades didn’t always work out, like when a rope I strung from the barn rafters snapped mid swing, or when the roller coaster came crashing down under the weight of four kids. I was a problem solver though, so when an old rope snapped, I just started over with my dad’s good lasso.

3. Your other books are so colorful. What about this story said, three colors only?

When I first started writing Lucy and the String, I had planned to use my colorful collage style. But after making several samples, I realized that the saturated palette took away from one part of the story that really needed to shine… the string. The story itself is simple, and I wanted a style that mirrored that simplicity. Once I pared down the palette to black, white, and poppy red, it just fit. I love the limited palette and simplified style so much that I’m now trying to weave it into future books. 

Thank you, Vanessa for taking the time to answer my questions! If you are looking for a delightful read aloud, Lucy and the String will be available August 7. Happy book birthday!

Bio: Vanessa Roeder is an author and illustrator whose work has been featured in Highlights magazine and on Apartment Therapy. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three kids.

Be sure to visit the other stops of the Lucy and the String Blog Tour!
July 30 – Read. Learn. Repeat – Q&A + Review
July 31 – Picture Book Playdate – Creative Instagram Picture
August 1 – Tuesday Stiches – Creative Instagram Picture
August 2 – Proseandkahn – Q&A
August 3 – Mundie Kids Book – Review + Creative Instagram Picture