Mrs. Nobody
An inventive story about setting boundaries, Mrs. Nobody by debut picture book author Y.S. Lee and illustrator Marie Lafrance will have readers thinking about using their own voices.
Alice and Mrs. Nobody are the best of friends. They love to use their outdoor voices, create beautiful art in all the adult books and eat ice cream for breakfast. When Mrs. Nobody insists they play Puppy but Alice doesn’t want to, Mrs. Nobody gets bigger and angrier until she just disappears, only to reappear the next day. How will Alice learn to problem solve with Mrs. Nobody?
Y.S. Lee has created the most wonderful book to help readers navigate tricky friendships and to learn to self advocate and use their voices. Mrs. Nobody is the PERFECT book for an early years setting when readers are just learning how to use their voices to ensure they are heard in a kind way. As soon as I read this story, I knew it would be perfect for the daycare where I work. We are always working on using voices to help guide problem solving in the classroom.
I particularly love how the character that is a little bit louder and assertive is called Mrs. Nobody. This name creates a universality to the character so that readers can envision their own tricky friendships in this character. It’s also the perfect name because when anything mischievous or bad happens, who is the most likely culprit, “Nobody”.
I love how Alice needed the difficulties of a night time waking and self soothing to discover her voice and to learn that she can advocate for herself. I think, sometimes, in our pursuit to protect our children and readers, we remove difficulties instead of letting children grow and learn because of having to navigate these tricky social situations. It’s such an important lesson for not just the readers but the adults in the readers’ lives as well.
Marie Lafrance’s illustrations are whimsical and colourful. She sets the tone and the mood through the dream like scenarios with Alice and Mrs. Nobody and shows how big emotions can make a person feel big or small depending on the giver and the receiver. It’s so fun to get lost in the Alice in Wonderlandesque world that she creates within the backdrop of this important message.
