King Alice

Preschool-Kindergarten. Young Alice, with her boundless imagination and energy, appears to rule the roost in her interracial family of four. On a particularly snowy day, when the family is housebound, Alice comes up with a variety of activities to while away the hours, and creating a book about King Alice and her adventures is the one she decides to pursue. She and her indulgent dad write and illustrate several chapters about “King Alice the First! A-a-a-n-d . . . the royal brave knights!” which include a tea party, pirates, and unicorns. Caldecott medalist Cordell (Wolf in the Snow, 2017) offers up engaging illustrations in watercolor, colored pencil, markers, and pen-and-ink that are enjoyably reminiscent of both Tony Ross and Quentin Blake. Alice, who is full of creative ideas, uses her scepter as a backscratcher, while her patient father wears a tiara, a necklace, and red earrings. The day is segmented into specified periods: breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time, bath time, and bed time, with the addition of a 15-minute time-out after a frantic unicorn stampedes into Dad. Cordell’s title pays delightful homage to books, writing, and illustrating, while revealing a happy, pajama-clad family spending a fun-filled, though frenetic, day together.

Copyright 2018 Booklist, LLC Used with permission.

King Alice lays down the law when her family is snowbound. After anointing herself King Alice (“You mean…Queen?” Sir Dad asks; “No! KING!”—but this is not a book about overturning gender norms), the pint-sized monarch decides she and her father will make a book together. With a little nudging from Mom, their story begins with “King Alice the First and the royal brave knights having breakfast.” Chapter 2 continues it with a princess tea party. And so the day goes, with a red-bathrobe–clad Alice moving from activity to activity as her beleaguered father tries to keep up (at one point Alice abruptly begins Chapter 5: “ ‘What happened to chapters 3 and 4…?’ Dad wondered pointlessly”) and her mother takes care of the baby and feeds the family. Cordell gets the aimlessness of a day without structure perfectly as well as the elliptical, arbitrary composition style of a young child in Alice’s writing. Unfortunately, the result is a rather aimless plot, one that seems to place Dad’s frazzlement at its center rather than Alice’s ebullience. Cordell’s characteristically scratchy illustrations depict a happy, mixed-race family (Dad presents white, Mom has brown skin and black hair, and the two children have light-brown skin and black hair) in a comfortably messy house. Alice’s metafictive story appears on faux lined paper and cleverly mirrors the events of the day. Sweet and loving characters can’t quite make up for a lack of plot. (Picture book. 4-8)

Copyright 2018 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

Alice's father emerges foggily from his bedroom one morning to greet his daughter. (She, her mother, and baby sibling have brown skin, while the rumpled dad has white skin and Fred Flintstone-style stubble.) "Morning, Alice," he mumbles. "KING Alice! The First!" she corrects. It's a snow day, and after casting about for amusements, the two laboriously write and draw a book about King Alice, chapter by chapter, leaving it ("Okay, I'm bored now") and coming back to it ("IDEA!") throughout the day. Caldecott Award-winner Cordell (Wolf in the Snow) mimics child-style print and crayon drawings for a tale that features knights, pirates, and unicorns. Alice's story--and her story's story--get their laughs from close observation. Cordell knows how children speak ("I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry I bonked you with my unicorn, Daddy"), what they like to do ("Let's make... super-sparkly strawberry muffins again!"), and how their stories sound ("King Alice yelled, 'This is some delicious tea!' "). Readers will treasure their time with Alice's father, who allows his daughter to be exactly who she is, and King Alice, who leads her family on adventures even when they don't leave the house. Ages 3-5. (Sept.)

PreS-Gr 2--King Alice (as she insists on being called) is considerably more excited about being stuck inside on a snow day than her father is. Nonetheless, he gamely goes along with her demands for his constant attention while Mom tends to the baby and everyone's nutritional needs. The king and Sir Dad compose and illustrate an extensive chronicle of their pursuits from tea parties to pirate battles to unicorn stampedes. The best fun here is in Cordell's cartooned illustrations of the biracial family who never get out of their pajamas until bath time. King Alice crayons the visuals of her story on lined paper while Sir Dad transcribes her text. In the framing story, readers see their real world setting complete with burping baby, ginger cat, and a floor strewn with toys. From the first spread of the unshaven father, yawning and scratching his butt while his daughter informs him that she's to be addressed as "King Alice the First," kids will know that they are in for a wild ride through a little girl's fecund imagination. That Sir Dad is such a willing accomplice (but not a complete pushover) makes this cozy story a delight to share in multiple readings. VERDICT This delightful book-within-a-book will inspire domestic mayhem while enduring a snow day. A must-have.--Miriam Lang Budin, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

"With Alice insisting that she's a king, not a queen, and a biracial family depicted, the book subtly but clearly upends stereotypes."— Austin American-Statesman newspaper

WINNER OF THE 2018 CALDECOTT MEDAL

"Beautifully paced . . . ultimately reassuring." —Wall Street Journal

"Shows the power of kindness and bravery. Reminiscent of William Steig's Brave Irene, Cordell's book is a perfect choice for the dark days of winter." —IndieBound

"The girl's story is a hero's journey, and Cordell tells it with skill and heart." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Expect this wintry tale to bring only warmth." —Booklist, starred review

"A heartwarming adventure about helping others, best shared one-on-one to pore over the engaging images." —School Library Journal, starred review

"Deeply satisfying." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Cordell's pen-and-ink illustrations balance detail and emotion...The setting is brought to life through changing sky colors, cold breaths, and extensive snowscapes in watercolors." —Horn Book, starred review