Gunilla Bergström (1942–2021)

"When daddies want to be left in peace, they don't pay too much attention to what you do," observes the ironic narrator of Very Tricky, Alfie Atkins, and sure enough, when Daddy wants to read the newspaper, five-year-old Alfie Atkins manages to finagle permission to play with his tool-box. Except for the saw, of course! And so begins a hilarious little drama, in which Alfie constructs a "helicopter" for himself under the nose of his inattentive father, who is eventually persuaded to join in the fun!

Young readers will relish the juxtaposition of Daddy's absent-minded prohibitions against using the saw with Alfie's various mishaps, and adults will appreciate the fact that even loving parents don't always pay attention when they should. My second Alfie book, following on Good Night, Alfie Atkins, this gives me a better sense of Bergström's quirky sense of humor. I continue to find her 1970s-style illustrations unappealing, but the narrative is entertaining enough to compensate for them. An engaging picture-book for younger children, it is especially welcome because it concentrates on a healthy, loving father-son relationship, something the genre could use more of, I think.… (mer)

Four-year-old Alfie Atkins - Alfons Åberg in the original Swedish - doesn't really want to go to bed, even though it is "almost nine." His series of delaying tactics, from his sudden insistence on brushing his teeth to his desire for a glass of water, will be very familiar to parents used to putting reluctant children to bed. Finally, having run through everything from a bedtime story to a change of sheets, Alfie calls for his Teddy Bear. But where is Daddy...?

This charming bedtime story, originally published in 1972, reminds me of an interesting conversation I had with some Swedish vacationers a few years back, in a pub in Caherciveen, on the west coast of Ireland. They had a six-year-old with them, and she had run riot all evening, until finally falling into an exhausted sleep on the massive window-sill. Her mother laughed, and said that Swedish children were pretty much allowed to do what they liked, on the theory that the school-years would be soon enough to enforce discipline.

Good Night, Alfie Atkins certainly seems to bear out that observation, as patient Daddy runs and fetches until he literally collapses from exhaustion! The centrality of the child's needs and desires is everywhere evident, and young readers will find in this story the reassurance that they are loved, even when they're being something of a pest. Gunilla Bergström's engaging narrative shows a sensitivity to and appreciation of child psychology that older readers will also find appealing. I can't say that I particularly cared for the illustrations, which had a distinctly 70s flavor to them, with their loud colors and rather cartoonish lines, but they weren't enough of a distraction to detract from my enjoyment.

All in all, a most enjoyable foray into a previously unfamiliar children's author, and I thank my goodreads friend Manny for recommending it!… (mer)