MY LITTLE GREEN UMBRELLA
by Sandy Little ; illustrated by Tom Lintern
A green umbrella is boat, castle, and sentient object in the life of a little girl.
One day, shopping for some rain boots, a little White girl with blond hair pleads with her mother to buy her a large green umbrella as well. Whether by magic or by coincidence, the sun comes out whenever the umbrella opens, setting the stage for childlike adventure. The umbrella, which has feelings of its own, becomes a castle wall, a parachute, and a boat. Lintern’s renderings include portrayals of mice with swords, and while the umbrella carries the girl on an imaginary ocean, it retains its form. Life goes on, and “the young girl loved the green umbrella, and it was happy.” Eventually, the girl is too big, and she puts the umbrella away in a cluttered closet—where a boy finds it. The boy, who is White, uses it to play swords and forts until he too grows up. The umbrella is stowed until it has a rather dull day with an adult. The message that creativity is restricted to children is a little simplistic–surely there is room for imagination in adulthood? Less bleak than Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, there’s also less to chew on. The vintage crosshatched pen style and delicate drawings feel like a throwback to earlier decades of children’s literature. This low-key, peaceful story of aging and continuity will primarily provide nostalgic comfort.
A serene, familiar fable.