22 November 2011 THE MONEY WE'LL SAVE by Brock Cole, Farrar Straus Giroux, October 2011, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-374-35011-6

All of the children are constructively engaged in their assigned tasks so...

"So Ma decided to send Pa."'Now just buy two eggs and a half pound of flour,' she told him.  "'Remember, Christmas is not far off, and we must save every penny.'"'I'll remember,' said Pa, and he set off with a shopping basket and purse."

Back in the seventies, at a time when many of us became engaged in that era's Back-to-the-Land movement (Do you remember THE WHOLE EARTH CATALOGUE and THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS?), there was a really funny BBC sitcom import titled "The Good Life"  (known here in the States as "Good Neighbors").  In that show, a couple transform their previously manicured, proper suburban home into a farm, complete with a goat, a pig, fowl, and crops.  

It is funny to see farm animals in an un-farm like neighborhood.

Back in the nineties, Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens' TO MARKET, TO MARKET was a big hit in this house.

It is funny to have farm animals running around in the house.

Back in the fifties, the book that arguably is the most beloved children's novel ever written explored the notion of eating a farm animal that has become a member of the family.

I'm reminded of all of these experiences by the uproariously funny THE MONEY WE'LL SAVE, the latest addition to my all-time favorite children's Christmas stories. 

"'Oh,' said the chicken man,' if it's a fine dinner and saving pennies you want, I can tell you how to do that.'"

And so it is that Pa arrives home from the market, to the family's already-crowded upstairs flat, in a New York tenement building, with a turkey poult -- who the children name Alfred -- that they will fatten up between now and Christmas. 

As the living situation requiring the accommodation of the rapidly growing turkey becomes more and more absurd (and expensive), the punch line, again and again, is:

"...and remember the money we're saving."

What elevates this story to the truly notable are Brock Cole's engaging illustrations that are filled with life and movement and character.  The ink and watercolor illustrations both depict nineteenth century tenement living and clearly define each of the six tight-knit family members (and their repeatedly irritated elderly neighbor, Mrs. Schumacher).

Raising Alfred is a wild adventure.  And though there is turkey crap raining down everywhere, the family sticks together and -- right -- like anyone thought they could actually eat Alfred...

"'It would be like eating a friend,' said Bridget."'Well,' said Pearl, 'not a friend, exactly.  It would be like eating Mrs. Schumacher.'"'Yes!' shouted Bailey and Bridget.  'Do you want us to eat Mrs. Schumacher for Christmas dinner?'"

The surprise ending had me rolling.  Don't miss it. 

Richie Partington, MLIS
Instructor, San Jose State University
School of Library and Information Science http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/partingtonr/partingtonr.php