Nurse Matilda: The Collected Tales
Gr. 3-5. Nurse Matilda is a combination of Mary Poppins, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and TV's Super Nanny. The three tales of Nurse Matilda's entanglements with the Brown family, which were published individually in the 1960s, might have languished in out-of-print purgatory were it not for a "major motion picture," entitledNanny McPhee,inspired by the stories. American readers, even those "of a certain age," may not be familiar with the Nanny tales, but there's lots to warm up to, including Ardizzone's lively ink drawings, over-the-top events, and the arch, yet understated, British tone ("I understand that your children areexceedingly naughty"). And so the Brown children are, mixing up mischief and a bit of violence. One of Brand's funny conceits is that the children are too numerous to be counted, with new ones continually being named. Still, by the third section, in which the children play havoc with several elderly ladies, the bad behavior seems gratuitous and belabored. The book's popularity in the U.S. will probably be tied to the movie's.^BIlene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved