Pumpernick and Pimpernell

Pumpernick and Pimpernell
Lilo Fromm ~ Doubleday, 1967

Sorry I was out for a day, but my scanner was down... until tonight! Up late to bring you a sweet and crazy story about two friends who have a lovely little life together. A garden. A wee little house. An adorable doggy. Until one day...

...something strange happened. A noise they had never heard before was coming from the house. It was like the breathing of a horse with a bad cold. They all jumped up to see what it could be. And what did they see but a great huge mouse asleep on the roof, snoring so hard it made the whole house shake!

Just when you think that a giant blue mouse on the roof was weird, Pete the Drifter shows up, laughing and shouting with a rooster under his arm. Next, the Noise Man arrives with his junk cart. And yes, as you might imagine, a fight ensues between the mouse, the drifter and the Noise Man... leaving Pumpernick and Pimpernell to clean up the mess.

Brought to us by the artist Fromm who also illustrated the German classic The Golden Bird, I've read this book again and again, searching for what the moral might be, but alas... who cares! She created a story so rad and strange and colorful that it doesn't need to teach us anything except that weirdos will steer clear of your house if you put up a sign that reads "Keep Out! Biting Dog!"

Ten kinds of AWESOME!


—————

Read along on Instagram, Facebook, tumblr, Twitter and Etsy.