Large portions of my children's book collection were lost to me when I divorced, I mourn them more than any of the other shared possessions I left behind, but this one, 'I'll take You to Mrs Cole' by Nigel Gray and Michael Foreman, is one that I have repurchased because I loved it so much.
This book is the story of a young boy and fear of the unknown. He is an only child and seems to look after himself while his mum goes to work, often making a mess and failing to do any of the chores she leaves for him (social services would probably be down on her like a shot nowadays).
Her response is always to threaten to take him to Mrs Cole. She lives down the street "in a dirty house, in a noisy house, with lots of kids under her feet." He begins to wonder what must be so bad about Mrs Cole, how badly she must treat her children. He imagines them being made to scrub the floors or else locked up in "a dark and dismal dungeon with green and slimy walls" and fed to the crocodiles.
But one day he decides to run away from the washing up and goes over the road to Mrs Cole's house. In spite of the jungly garden and the broken window, in spite of her "straggly hair" and "scruffy cardigan", the house is warm and smells of bacon, so he goes inside. Another pretty worrying scenario but we'll just go with the story and let it unfold. It turns out this house has everything a small boy could want; a grown up who doesn't complain about the mess, tea with sugar, puppies, lots of friends to play with, and, most of all, noise. The message being, things aren't always what they seem and taking chances can sometimes pay off.
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Never heard of this book, don't remember DD ever reading it, and I thought she read everything that existed, lol. Children being locked up...sometimes I think book that are suppose to be childrens book are too scarey..both with pictures and words. But, you have me curious...in the divorce your hubby wanted and got all your books?
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I've never heard of this book but it sure has a powerful message. I might try to find it for my youngest granddaughter.
ReplyDeleteVery cute! Just stopping by for the A-Z Challenge. Please check us out and sign up to follow if you like what you see. Juliet atCity Muse Country Muse
ReplyDeleteHi folks thanks for visiting, it's nice to tell introduce something new to a few people.
ReplyDeleteSandy, no there were just several boxes of books and i only had some of them, but I mourn them most because the girls tell me they ended up being consigned to the damp garage after they moved house and the kids never read them again.
I hope everyone is enjoying the A to Z challenge, I have visited some great new blogs.