Book Review: The Mischievians
A review by Chris Turner-Neal
Prolific writer and illustrator William Joyce has created over fifty children’s books, including the TV-adapted Rolie Polie Olie and George Shrinks, and was also a creative force behind the films Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Epic. Last year, he was honored with a parade in his native Shreveport for bringing home an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, described on its iTunes purchase page as “inspired, in equal measure, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love of books” and by this author as “I’m not crying, it’s just abruptly gotten very dusty in here.” Just in time for the holidays, Joyce has released his newest book, The Mischievians, which reveals and explains the troublesome little creatures responsible for all the minor (but obnoxious) pitfalls faced in everyday life.
Why is the natural state of keys “lost?” Why does one sock so often ask for a divorce and move out on its own? What is that smell? Two children, tormented by these and similar questions, attach a plaintive query letter to a balloon and let the wind carry it away, hoping the finder will be able to shed some light. (You can tell they’re good kids because the boy has on saddle shoes and the girl is drinking an old-fashioned ice cream soda.) A trapdoor opens beneath them, and the children land in the laboratory of Dr. Maximilian F. R. Zooper, “a fellow who looks very Zooperish.” Zooper points the children to his new encyclopedia on the Mischievians, a diverse group of sprite-like little beasties that live everywhere and cause all kinds of trouble.
It turns out you actually did your homework; it was just eaten by the Homework Eaters, ever-evolving critters who’ve moved from gnawing on stone tablets to chewing up papers to slurping files out of computer memory. No one is safe from the Earworm, who creeps up and quietly sings “Manic Monday” and “Hey Mickey” in your ear until you hear them all day long. Oh, and those thorns you pick up from walking barefoot outside are actually the sharp, detachable snouts of Stickers, who jab you just because. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as it turns out lost remotes, clogged toilets, and even lint are the work of various members of the vast Mischievian tribe. After reading up on the Michievians, the children are ka-zooped back into their yard with their own copy of the encyclopedia, well-prepared to face the annoyances of daily life.
The Mischievians is an absolute treat to read, an obvious labor of love by people who like children and enjoy writing and drawing for them. The illustrations are beautiful little character sketches of various Mischievians, with the shoe-dwelling Mista Blista and the Stickler shooting its own nose from a bow standing out as among the most endearing. The book has a few gross giggles (since Mischievians are responsible for boogers and various, er, body sounds)—but nothing worse than you already get from a child who’s learned the word “poop”—and is a safe buy for all but the most delicate of maiden aunts.
This is the kind of book that’s fun to read with a child; the pictures are so detailed and the text so well-written and pleasant that you can easily spend a good half-hour or more exploring this book with a little friend. Best of all, there’s a page in the back of the book set up for a child to write up and draw his or her own Mischievian (but only one, so you might want to scan or Xerox it before turning the kids loose with crayons). And in an inspired touch, tiny eyes peer around the edges of pages and little hands reach to swipe letters out of words—this extra design element underscores the good-natured mischief of the book and is sure to give a smile.
I highly recommend that this book find a place under your Christmas tree or a safe spot outside the wax-drip radius of your menorah—add your own holiday joke here—but be warned: you’re in for a few weeks of earnest efforts to blame everything on the Mischievians. You might as well play along, since you may well want to have the option yourself someday. “You see, officer, I put the inspection sticker on, it’s just that there are these creatures …”
Joyce, William. The Mischievians. New York: Atheneum Books, 2013.