Children’s Book of the Week: Roxaboxen

Roxaboxen is about a town that children make out of rocks and boxes:

My favorite thing about the book is that neither the author (Alice McLerran) or the illustrator (Barbara Cooney — a very famous children’s book illustrator, you’ll probably recognize some of the books she’s done) ever go into the children’s book cliche of showing the world of Roxaboxen “as the children see it.” No, the children still live in an ugly, barren land, and their town is literally of rocks and boxes. And no, they do not have random fabulous supplies, their jails are the bushes and their cars are old stearing wheels:

The children make up rules on a whim (you can’t speed in a car, but you can go as fast as you want by horse). I think it really encourages children to have their own fun with whatever supplies they have. In fact, that is exactly what I did as a child, forcing my friends to build little rock houses by my dead, hollow apple tree. I insisted on being Mayor. Their acquiescence, I later discovered, occured because they thought I wanted to be “The Mare” (though they couldn’t figure out why).

Other Posts You Might Like:
1. Children’s Book of the Week: Frida
2. Children’s Book of the Week: Diary of a Wombat
3. Places & Spaces: The New York Public Library (Children’s Room!)
4. Children’s Book of the Week: My Head is Full of Colors
5. Children’s Book of the Week: My Friend is Sad

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