The Puppets of Spelhorst

This author is a close friend of the brilliant American writer Ann Patchett, who was privileged to hear this story read out loud ‘clear-eyed from beginning to end’ in a private pre-publication session. It tells of five puppets, a king, a boy, a girl, a wolf and an owl rescued from a rag and bone man to join an affluent family. This is a time of respectful servants, large drawing rooms and helpful uncles with time on their hands. The two little girls of the house put on a play voicing each puppet in the process. Without knowing they are doing it they get close to the particular yearnings the puppets themselves expressed in their otherwise secret conversations with each other. The play, although sometimes comic, provides them with some measure of peaceful resolution.

As always DiCamillo’s limpid prose reads easily, and it is accompanied by enchanting pencil drawings from Julie Morstad. But there is a lot of repetition in an already short text, with the wolf particularly insistent on the superb sharpness of his teeth. The other puppets lack the energy of a Russell Hoban or the menace of a Neil Gaiman when it comes to creating animated toys onto the page, and the children who play with them are hardly developed as characters themselves. As a two-time Newbery Medalist, the author well deserves due respect and attention for all she does. But while some readers will be happy to go along with this affectionate, restrained, dreamy little story, others may want more action.  But with two more stories still to come in what is going to be the Norendy Tales chapter-book series, it will be fascinating to see what might follow next.