The Frazzle Family Finds a Way

February 4, 2013
“The Frazzles were forgetful,” writes Bonwill (I Don’t Want to Be a Pea!). “They forgot their umbrellas when it rained.” Caldecott Medalist Gammell paints the raindrops as gorgeous splatters of grey-blue watercolor paint that speak volumes about the family’s soggy sad-sackness. Enter Aunt Rosemary, a disheveled ball of fire, whose solution is “making notes and calendars and schedules and lists until it seemed that the whole house was covered in paper.” It’s little Annie Frazzle who hits on the true solution: mnemonics as song: “Apples, lettuce, bread, and beets,/ Chicken, carrots, chocolate treats,” sings Annie on a shopping trip. “Milk and cheese and one thing more,/ Don’t leave Grandpa at the store!” Everyone knows or belongs to a family that has at least a little Frazzle forgetfulness in its DNA, but the story’s emphasis feels out of whack, with too much time given to the setup and to blowhard Aunt Rosemary, and not enough to the family’s goofily logical, cobbled-together song-making (which Bonwill nails). Even Gammell’s pictures—with their freewheeling immediacy and radiant, unpredictable palette—can’t quite set the narrative aright. Ages 4–8.

May 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-The members of the Frazzle family certainly live up to their name: they are an utter mess. In winter they forget their coats, in summer they forget their sunscreen, on trips to the grocery store they forget everything except eggs and leave poor Grandpa in the frozen-foods aisle. The happy-go-lucky parents go to work with uncombed hair while the daydreaming kids take fishing rods and flippers to school instead of backpacks. When Aunt Rosemary comes to stay, she makes it her mission to organize this disheveled and forgetful lot. While her lists, schedules, and strings prove useless, she unknowingly inspires young Annie Frazzle to compose songs that help the others remember important things. This silly family story packs a lot of child appeal. Goofy moments, as when Mr. Frazzle forgets his trousers one morning, will have young listeners in giggles. The true strength is in Gammell's signature artwork; a gorgeous mess of rainbow-colored splotches and splatters depict a sudden rainstorm, a muddy yard, and delicate bubbles while erratic lines suggest constant movement as the characters teeter on ledges and jitter across spreads. Even after the Frazzles reform their neurotic ways and find a way to remember things like Grandpa and grocery lists, a final page shows that they retain their essential, and rather charming, flakiness. Messy fun.-Kiera Parrott, Darien Library, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
A family with severe short-term memory issues discovers a coping strategy at last in this mildly farcical outing. Given their tendency to leave home sans trousers or umbrellas, to forget the grocery list--even, in the dog's case, to forget where the bones are buried--the Frazzles invite Aunt Rosemary in to organize their lives. Unfortunately, even Rosemary's blizzard of notes, schedules and strings on fingers fails to work. Her bathtub caterwauling, however, inspires young Annie Frazzle to turn to-do lists into jingles: "Apples, lettuce, bread, and beets, / Chicken, carrots, chocolate treats, / Milk and cheese and one thing more, / Don't leave Grandpa at the store!" Problem solved. Gammell's illustrations add a typical air of barely controlled chaos. Disheveled figures sporting confused expressions beneath mops of flyaway hair float through paint-splashed scenes of riotous domestic clutter. Crisis management for sure, but resolutely low key and capped by the arrival of a luscious (if, Gammell-style, decrepit) birthday cake. (Picture book. 5-7)

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April 15, 2013
Preschool-G The Frazzle family is a forgetful mess. They forget little things, like shopping lists and sunscreen, and bigger things, like pants. But just as their disorganization threatens to consume them, Aunt Rosemary shows up with a system. She papers the house with notes and lists. She ties strings to their fingers. She chastens. Nothing works. That is, until young Annie discovers the mnemonic value of song. Soon the entire family is singing their daily responsibilities, and order follows. Bonwill employs the classic arc of a folktale, highlighting the Frazzles' frenzy by laying it atop a crisp foundation. And Gammell's affectionate, messy watercolors, dripping with splashes and spray, make great fun of the chaos (and leave us wondering just how long their fine fettle will last). Small details, such as the rhyming songs themselves, handwritten on scraps of paper with evidence of a pen running out of ink or the scribbler correcting her spelling, ramp up the delight.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
The Frazzle family members can't remember sunscreen, grocery lists, or pants. Aunt Rosemary comes to the rescue, but her many organizational efforts fail. The Frazzles eventually discover they can remember anything if they put it in a song. Gammell's frenetic illustrations perfectly express the Frazzle family's frazzled world. The happy ending leaves the whole family celebrating Rosemary's birthday--which they remembered.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)