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deservingporcupine's review against another edition
5.0
I wish I had read this book when I was a kid. It made me want to go to Arizona and find this "town."
annakim's review against another edition
5.0
Great picture book about childhood and the power of imagination and play.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet memory of a time when masses of kids could play unwatched and just imagine. With pretty good writing and pretty good art. Kind of a simple book, not much too it. 3.5 of 5.
sailormoon2728's review against another edition
5.0
Best children’s book of all time. Still makes me teary when I re-read it. Fun to read as a child, nostalgic as an adult. Please read to your children.
snowelf's review against another edition
5.0
A magical book ... for me, the parent! Evokes so many sensations, pictures, smells. The title page immediately took me to Anza Borrego Desert, a California State Park, at the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains. This is where I first experienced the pittoresque ocotillo plants and other colorful cacti in bloom. Subsequent pages made my mind wonder out to New Mexico, Santa Fe, and suddenly I was thinking of Georgia O'Keeffe. It's not that [a:Barbara Cooney's|191976|Barbara Cooney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1304790937p2/191976.jpg] drawing style is all that similar, but the colors and the atmosphere certainly are. Every other page spread I had to pause my reading, take a big breath and just admire the illustrations, all of which I wanted to tear out of the book, frame and hang on my walls. This was the reason I grabbed our copy of [b:Ox-Cart Man|608601|Ox-Cart Man|Donald Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348191605l/608601._SX50_.jpg|1361097] when I saw it at a library sale, and this probably applies to many of the books Cooney illustrated. I don't suppose her books are very popular any more, aside from maybe [b:Miss Rumphius|334818|Miss Rumphius|Barbara Cooney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1281468926l/334818._SX50_.jpg|929936], and I'm honestly not sure how children see them, they seem to be from such a different time, different world.
And [b:Roxaboxen|334809|Roxaboxen|Alice McLerran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388271543l/334809._SX50_.jpg|647127] may just be more of a book for adults than a book for children. And yet, it's not a book about growing up, it's a book about the timeless essence of being a child. It's about play, it's about freedom, friendship, creativity and imagination, and of the world we share with each other as children, but of which an adult can never be a part. And this may be why we parents love this book so much, it's about the precious childhood we all had, then lost and never will have again, except in our hearts ... and on the pages of this little picture book.
Of course I identified with this story, because we all had these games. Although my own backdrop, in my own little town, wasn't quite as dramatic and scenic as the site of Roxaboxen, in Yuma, Arizona. We had backyards, alleys, playgrounds, fields, and - worst of all - sometimes construction sites, to whose dangers and hazards we were completely oblivious. Summers were endless, days were long and filled with fantasies, explorations and earnest physical activities, all among peers. This exact sort of existence may be lost to most city children today, I do not know; we are so concerned with keeping them safe, this degree of freedom may be unfathomable. But our children will discover it in one form or the other, for sure.
So, while Roxaboxen will probably tickle your child's imagination, it is quite possible they won't love it half as dearly as you will. And they may not cry - like I did - when you reach the last page of the story. But that's okay. It's still a great book.
Now, about the pictures, I said that I would frame each and every one of them. I don't know how [a:Barbara Cooney|191976|Barbara Cooney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1304790937p2/191976.jpg] does it, but she must have spent day after day in the desert, drawing. Every page spread has its unique hue, unique color combination, each depicting a different time of of day, different time of the year, different weather. I can't laud the illustrations enough, they're simply amazing! What a keeper!
And [b:Roxaboxen|334809|Roxaboxen|Alice McLerran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388271543l/334809._SX50_.jpg|647127] may just be more of a book for adults than a book for children. And yet, it's not a book about growing up, it's a book about the timeless essence of being a child. It's about play, it's about freedom, friendship, creativity and imagination, and of the world we share with each other as children, but of which an adult can never be a part. And this may be why we parents love this book so much, it's about the precious childhood we all had, then lost and never will have again, except in our hearts ... and on the pages of this little picture book.
Of course I identified with this story, because we all had these games. Although my own backdrop, in my own little town, wasn't quite as dramatic and scenic as the site of Roxaboxen, in Yuma, Arizona. We had backyards, alleys, playgrounds, fields, and - worst of all - sometimes construction sites, to whose dangers and hazards we were completely oblivious. Summers were endless, days were long and filled with fantasies, explorations and earnest physical activities, all among peers. This exact sort of existence may be lost to most city children today, I do not know; we are so concerned with keeping them safe, this degree of freedom may be unfathomable. But our children will discover it in one form or the other, for sure.
So, while Roxaboxen will probably tickle your child's imagination, it is quite possible they won't love it half as dearly as you will. And they may not cry - like I did - when you reach the last page of the story. But that's okay. It's still a great book.
Now, about the pictures, I said that I would frame each and every one of them. I don't know how [a:Barbara Cooney|191976|Barbara Cooney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1304790937p2/191976.jpg] does it, but she must have spent day after day in the desert, drawing. Every page spread has its unique hue, unique color combination, each depicting a different time of of day, different time of the year, different weather. I can't laud the illustrations enough, they're simply amazing! What a keeper!