Weird and endearing. Love the illustrations. ( )

I was rather underwhelmed by this book. The idea of a baby found in tumbleweed who causes all kinds of problems (but is ultimately loved and accepted into a family) is charming and has much potential, but I don't think that the author quite managed to fully plumb the story or the characters. Vess' artwork was also surprisingly tame, considering that he usually works so well within the subjects of wild magic and young children. Maybe if the story had been more developed then the art would have been able to be more effective as well. ( )

Summary:

The Upagainstit family lives all by themselves out in a falling apart house surrounded by tumbleweeds. One day the children find a baby inside a gigantic tumbleweed and they take her home to join the family. She is too wild at first though, running around like crazy during bath time and bed time. The family holds a meeting and decides to keep her anyway, with the littlest Upagainstit girl finally whispering a secret to her new sister at the end: she was a tumbleweed baby too!

Personal commentary/ reflection:

I can imagine this would be a good book to share with children in a big family, kids who might not get a lot of individual recognition or one on one attention and need to be reminded of that special bond between family members that will always exist regardless. The illustrations are beautiful water color paintings, which add a old fashioned theme to the book, which actually fits perfecting being that the setting is an old house out in the country. The book, which was published in 2014, manages to pull off an authentic old school vibe, which I think takes a lot of illustrative talent. ( )