Alice McLerran

This delightfully nostalgic tale really brought me back to my own childhood, when I constructed entire worlds in my imaginary play, with my own country (Arcania) that had its own language and history. The old carriage house in our back-yard was alternately a castle, a prison, or a mountain (I vividly recall the day I almost rolled off the roof, onto the jagged rocks beneath), while the little wooded area beside it was a forest, and the little valley with the tulip tree an elfin glen. show more Children, when left to their own devices - which, if it can be safely managed, I strongly believe should be done at least some of the time - have incredibly rich inner lives, and will use whatever materials and locations are to hand, in constructing those lives.

This is something that Alice McLerran, who based her story on a real neighborhood "playground" created by her mother, and her mother's sisters and friends, understands. Roxaboxen is a tribute to that disappeared playground - initially, just a local hill with a bunch of rocks and broken boxes on it - and to the many hours of enjoyment the neighborhood children got out of it, creating their own "town," with houses and shops. Who hasn't played "pretend pony," as the children do here? Or gone into business, and "set up shop?" These common childhood games are brilliantly captured here, both by McLerran's narrative, and by Barbara Cooney's appealing illustrations. Highly, highly recommended! show less

A beautiful description of the neighborhood children's game in which they create a town called Roxaboxen. Sweetly nostalgic for adults and inspirational to children.

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 show more Cooney|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/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|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348191605s/608601.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|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1281468926s/334818.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|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348518648s/334809.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 of. 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, the dangers and hazards of which 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 child 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|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/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! show less

Marian called it Roxaboxen. (She always knew the name of everything.) There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill -- nothing but sand and rocks, some old wooden boxes, cactus and greasewood and thorny ocotillo -- but it was a special place: a sparkling world of jeweled homes, streets edged with the whitest stones, and two ice cream shops. Come with us there, where all you need to gallop fast and free is a long stick and a soaring imagination.