Author/Illustrator: Julie Kraulis
Publisher: Tundra
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review.
OK, I wanna say right up front that this is all Kraulis's fault. I had nothing to do with it. She made me laugh. It's all on her. Seriously. How can you not want to read a book with a title like this one?
The best thing about it is that it proved to be hilarious and completely up to its promise. The line drawings are splashed with color, beautifully done (quite the artist is our Ms. K), and the story is a real tease.
Frankly I had initially thought that the 'Iron Lady' was - no, not Margaret Thatcher, silly - but Lady Liberty. Of course there are two immediate problems with that: Lady Liberty is made from copper (although the framework was iron and designed by someone who played a crucial role in this story!), and she's not in Paris, she's in New York City; however, as Nicholas Cage's character pointed out in National Treasure 2, Lady Liberty originated in France, and there are copies of her there which might have been made from iron. Maybe.
But my initial idea was WRONG, and I'm armadillo enough to admit it! Shame on me since I've actually been to Paris and visited the Iron Lady without realizing it was known by that title! The novel also has a little info page listing some interesting trivia about its subject, so one must be sure to stop by there whilst one consumes one's stuffed croissant.
So anyway, you have to figure it out for yourself, just as Arlo the nine-banded armadillo did. I loved this story. I loved the depiction of Arlo which I found endlessly entertaining. Like I said, it's Kraulis's fault, so I'm really, really sorry if she didn't intend that...the hell with it. No I'm not sorry. I laughed my derriere off and I'm proud to admit it! There! Stuff that in your Place de la Concorde n'est-ce pas?!
For some reason this children's story just hit my os du coude. No, not that one, the one on the other side. No, a bit further over. Aw, you've gone too far; c'mon back and start again. Frankly I'm convinced that I got way more out of this than ever the author intended, especially given how far out of the target age group I am, but the fact is that you have to really get into this and do a stereotypical French accent and ham it up for maximal effect. It was a blast and I completely recommend it.
