Lester's Dreadful Sweaters. K. G. Campbell. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2012. 32 pp., hardcover, $18.95. ISBN 978-1-55453-770-9. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-7. Review by Ellen Heaney. *** /4

K.G. Campbell is an interior designer turned writer, a Scot now living in California. With Lester's Dreadful Sweaters, he makes his picture book debut as both author and illustrator. Lester is a careful, observant boy who keeps lists and is generally unafraid about voicing his opinion about things. Then frizzy-haired, bespectacled Cousin Clara comes for an extended stay and puts her knitting skills to work.

     Her first project is to knit a sweater for Lester– and he just does not know how to tell this well-meaning family member how he feels about what she makes for him. Lester puts it on and…

It was shriveled yet saggy.
It had holes where it shouldn't
and none where it should.
It was a less-than-pleasant yellow
and smothered with purple pom-poms.
It was DREADFUL

     The unusual garment falls victim to a "mysterious accident," but Cousin Clara's needles go to work again and another sweater is produced, more hideous than the first. The succession of bizarre knitwear (one of the sweaters, "the terribly turquoise one with several unexpected sleeves" was "stolen by ne'er-do-wells"), of course, makes Lester a target of teasing by his schoolmates.

      He is in despair, both because he cannot escape Clara's kindness and because he is faced with the shame of appearing at Enid Measles' birthday party. He is expected to wear the newest creation, a white sweater which makes him look like a cross between a sheep and Big Bird. When he appears at the party, Enid's mother assumes that he is with the clowns hired to entertain. The clowns love Lester's sweater and are happy to be invited to take over the whole collection. In fact, "On the spot, Cousin Clara was offered a job knitting for the whole troupe."

      The illustrations are done with pencil crayon in muted colours, but the exaggerated features and expressions of the story's characters and some unusual perspectives provide style. The story flows well, the descriptions of Cousin Clara's creations are hilarious, and I appreciated that the author does not rely on the crutch of a rhyming text. Rather, the humour is in his carefully-chosen words. A worthy addition to public library and primary school collections.

Recommended.

Ellen Heaney is Head, Children's Services at the New Westminster Public Library, New Westminster, BC.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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