THE QUIGLEYS AT LARGE
by Simon Mason
The Quigleys are back! With four interconnected short stories and hilarious cartoon illustrations, Simon paints a picture of a remarkably recognizable, but totally unique family. British words and spellings (“gritpaper,” “hoolah hoop”) add to the fun as we see Mum and Dad searching for the lost budgie, Will falling into daydreams, Mum recovering from wisdom-tooth surgery, and little sister Lucy befriending a French girl at a campground. This is not a stereotypical family at all—no saccharine aftertaste from sweetie-pie behavior, but no dysfunctional angst either. So, why read about them? Therein lies the charm; they are a family like most of ours—full of life and ridiculous, but ordinary experiences. With its generous font and ample illustration and white space, this will be the next treat for the Hurwitz and Cleary crowd. (Fiction. 7-12)