Arboreal Wish Fulfillment
Like they did its predecessor, "Monster on the Hill," our kids are finding "Life of Zarf" by Rob Harrell to be quite entertaining.
Zarf the troll tells the story of his career in a middle school that's in a contemporary fairy tale universe. Fellow students include an annoying prince, wizards, ogres, and talking pigs with the last name "Littlepig" ("little pig, little pig, let me come in").... but the kids have cell phones and play the game "Angry Dragons" which looks a whole lot like "Angry Birds." Goldilocks appears as "Ms. Locks," a middle aged lunch lady with a hobby hunting bears.
The generously illustrated story is full of nice little bits like the Wishing Tree. This is not a tree that grants wishes, but rather one that itself makes wishes constantly. Zarf explains that he understands why the immobile tree constantly wishes to ride a motorcycle, but is tired of listening to it.
The napkin recipients' dad is a serious rider, fixer, and stockpiler of motorcycles, so riding envy is a topic that does come up frequently around here.
I don't think I was really able to take advantage of the visual opportunities of a tree on a motorcycle. I got too involved with just drawing the bike and getting it to sit on the ground. I didn't get around to suggesting wind or speed. And that tree definitely needs more roots.
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