Lizzie Nonsense: A Story of Pioneer Days

Lizzie, her mom, and her baby sister have it tough in turn-of-the-century outback Australia, and its even tougher when Papa travels 40 miles away to sell their crop, following the old "sand rails" (not sure what those might be). Their struggles are physical as well as emotional-- daily chores with minimal nourishment, and dangerous native animals (e.g., snakes and dingoes) among them. To wage this private war, Lizzie uses her imagination to conjure up better times and places: When helping bathe the baby in a tub of water, she sings, "You're afloat in a boat on a big, wide sea." Her mom responds in a seemingly harsh way: "You and your nonsense!" BY the third times Mama responds this way("you are full of nonsense"), we can see a little smile on her face; it's clear this is a playful ritual without any underlying anger or frustration (at least, not at Lizzie, herself). Still, when reading this to youngsters, you might want to say the mother's reproaches with the light touch that the author intended. Lizzie's imagination is fun, but it contrasts deeply with life in the bushlands: "Tonight,"says Lizzie, "we will eat peaches, and cream, and little sweet cakes." "Such nonsense!" says her mama." We are having turnips, as usual. When Lizzie and Mama mend their clothes, Lizzie (matter-of-factly and with no apparent self-pity) says that she making a dress "with lots of frills and laces and bows." "What an imagination," says her mama. In an especially poignant scene, author/illustrator Ormerod shows that even the admonishing mom needs some fantasy: Every Sunday they "put on their best clothes" and walk along the track and back, pretending that they're going to church. While this story of struggle on a non-American frontier doesn't sentimentalize, there are some bright spots that could be excellent discussion points. Lizzie and her mom have a close relationship, out of necessity, yes, but also out of their shared experience. There's also the implicit beauty of the land. Ormerud's beautiful and evocative watercolors show the play of light upon rich foliage, playful kangaroos and the dusk-lit forms of marsupials and dingoes, the warmth of the fire and the oil-lit lamp. At the conclusion, they hear the jingling of Papa's horses, and out of an orange-colored dawn they see him approaching. They run excitedly to meet him, and Ormerud has another, even more warm round of affection and disclaimer: "You're as pretty as a picture, Beatrice," says the father. "Nonsense, Albert!" "And you," he says to Lizzie, "are as brave and pretty as your mother." "Nonsense!" says Lizzie. Warm, funny, yet realistic and historical, this 33-page book would make a wonderful addition to the school or home library.

Brilliant illustrations bring Lizzie's days in the bush alive, colors and drawings showing rather than telling of an isolated existence in the bush country, where Lizzie's father must take his horse-drawn cart of sandalwood over fifty miles to market. Lizzie, her mother and baby sibling are left behind to manage until his return. It is a lonely life, but Lizzie's overactive imagination turns every task into an adventure. Whenever Lizzie announces a new make-believe idea, her mother comments, "Nonsense, Lizzie!" But Lizzie will not be deterred. She rides the limb of a tree, reins attached to a branch, a paper crown on her head; when baby is having a bath, Lizzie sings, "You're afloat on a boat on a big, wide sea"; while her mother tends the garden, Lizzie fancies herself a bride, a garland of flowers in her hair; and when her mother prepares the usual fare of turnips for dinner, Lizzie announces, "Tonight we will eat peaches and cream and little sweet cakes". Although Mother pretends that Lizzie is full of nonsense, the little girl brightens their world, awaiting her father's return, lifting their daily drudgery into light-hearted banter. Even on Sunday, Lizzie's mama indulges a bit in fancy herself, as they dress up in their best clothes, walking along the road, pretending they have been to church. Mother and daughter think their minds are playing tricks when they hear the jangling of a harness, but, indeed, it is Father returning to his family. The combination of pictures and prose tell a charming story of life years ago in the bush, where dingoes howl at night and nature's presence is part of the landscape. The mind of a child creates a fairy-tale ambiance, bringing joy to her family and to young readers who learn of the early struggles of families in a sparsely populated country, turning hardship into fables, the magic world of imagination. Luan Gaines/ 2005.