Title: Meeting fancy
Author: Blossom Jackson
Illustrator: Gill Guile
Publisher: Multicultural Books
Reviewed by: Mel Cooke
Meeting Fancy, a short children's book written by Blossom Jackson with good illustrations by Gill Guile, is let down by the basics of grammar.
It is a literary crime to publish a book with consistent grammatical errors and, as this book is deemed suitable for children 7-11 years old. It is also abuse of a minor's developing language skills to expose them to incorrect English (or whatever language it is written in).
It is not so much that the brief tale of a brief encounter between a family and a beach dog is riddled with spelling errors (although it does say "suiitable for children ..." at the back and everyone is written as "every one"). It is the punctuation that really gets me.
Jackson writes: "Bertie then said 'Dad, I have a better idea, Nanny liked the beach at Killiney when she was there last time, we could go there!'"
How about a full stop instead of that comma between 'idea' and 'Nanny'? How about another between 'time' and 'we'?
And then a few paragraphs later she writes. "But Dad now smiling replied ..." Hello! Comma is required after Dad, another after smiling. But there should be one after 'taking' in "... the family set off in the family car for Killiney beach taking with them, wet suits, towels ..." Yeah, lose the comma after 'them' as well.
And this is within the first three pages of text in a book where almost every other page is a full-page, colour illustration, words and images getting equal space on other pages.
Punctuation is an important part of structure and Meeting Fancy simply falls way short on this basic requirement.
multiracial family
It is a pity, because with a multiracial family (The grandparents of Bertie and Emily, who live in Ireland, are Scottish and Jamaican.) The book, is a good study in racial harmony.
It is also efficiently descriptive in parts ("On reaching the beach, the children's dad parked the car and they all crossed the road, walked down some steps and crossed under a bridge to reach the sea.") and gives instructions in creating privacy without preaching ("As the children changed into their dry clothes, Dad held a beach towel around them alternately, so as to give them some privacy.").
And with Fancy, the black and white dog the family encounters when they come out of the water, being very friendly and well trained, but needing no one to look after him (A tag on the dog's collar reads, "My name is fancy and I live by the sea, so let me be.") is a blessing for all the parents whose children who encounter the book. 'Remember Fancy' is the reply to the pleas to take home every stray.
There is an appendix of sorts, with "what signs would you look for, to see whether it is safe to stroke a strange dog" at the top of the list - again a very good inclusion. And the prod, "How about writing a different ending to the story", should stimulate thought.
But even at this stage there is the encouragement "or why not finish your ending on line at ..." That should be 'online'.
Gill Guile's illustrations, which are on the front and back glossy covers of Meeting Fancy as well as throughout the text, are colourful and detailed, all 14 of them. And that text, presented in large type with small paragraphs, is child reader friendly.
But the grammar is not.
