Leave Me Alone!
By Jan Carr,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Granny treks off to knit in peace in funny modern folktale.
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What's the Story?
In LEAVE ME ALONE!, an old Russian woman lives in a small village in a small house overrun with very active grandkids. With winter coming, she knows she has "some very important knitting to do" but can't get started with all the kid chaos in the house. After straightening the house and enjoying a cup of tea from her samovar, she packs a sack and shouts, "Leave me alone!"" She heads up a mountain and tries to knit there but is interrupted by a bear family who wants to eat her and a cave full of mountain goats who want to eat her yarn. At the top of the mountain, she manages to climb onto the moon, but even there, she's bothered by little green moon-men. Unexpectedly, she escapes through a wormhole, where she at last finds the peace and quiet she needs to knit 30 little sweaters -- which she then brings back to her 30 grandkids.
Is It Any Good?
A classic-sounding folktale takes an unexpected and funny space-age turn in this story that sends a Russian granny on a journey to the moon and beyond. Author-illustrator Vera Brosgol's debut picture book is highly inventive. Readers will enjoy the pitch-perfect folktale start and howl at the humor. When the grandkids are "very curious about her knitting," one girl stuffs a ball of yarn in her little brother's mouth: "Could you make your brother eat it?" Other kids wonder, "Why did the ball get smaller and smaller as you chased it?"
Leave Me Alone! has a perfect balance of text and art. Mountain goats who are happy the old woman "brought snacks" are shown passed out in drunk-like stupors after gorging on yarn. And the little moon-men have scanners that say "beep boop" -- so fun to say! There's also storytelling know-how in the repeated chant. And though it looks a little odd to modern eyes to see all-white faces in such a huge mess of kids, it's a Russian village and family. When the old woman's "important knitting" turns out to be 30 sweaters for the very same grandkids who brought her to "the end of her rope," the touch of sweetness is just right.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the classic feel of Leave Me Alone!. When the story started, did you think it was going to be a traditional folktale? What parts of the story and art made you think that?
How much of the humor is in the art? Can you find jokes that are just in the art? What about jokes that are in both the text and the art?
Do you think the old woman actually loves her grandchildren? Why? Can you love someone and want to be away from them sometimes?
Book Details
- Author: Vera Brosgol
- Illustrator: Vera Brosgol
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Space and Aliens
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
- Publication date: September 13, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 4 - 7
- Number of pages: 40
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: Caldecott Medal and Honors
- Last updated: February 13, 2020
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