The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum by Nancy Willard (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum by Nancy Willard Amy Atkinson Willard, Nancy The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum; illus. by Kevin Hawkes. Candlewick, 2015 [48p] ISBN 978-0-7636-5476-4 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys M 5-7 yrs Tom’s mother has made his very favorite pie (strawberry) for his eighth birthday. Not content with the single slice he wheedles before bed, he wishes for three mouths; unfortunately, this birthday wish comes true. Plagued with three pieholes, he cannot possibly have a birthday party or even attend school, and his mother’s initial reaction is to shriek “There’s a monster in the house!” before the family falls together weeping on the kitchen floor. He studies with a tutor, begins inventing contraptions, and wishes fervently for his previous face; only when his innovations matter more than his appearance and the neighborhood children appreciate him just as he is does he return to his single-mouthed self. The message is ambiguous in this convoluted cautionary tale of greed and gluttony (or maybe of the superficiality of appearances—hard to say); the logic is unclear and random plot devices are confusing. The pen, ink, and pastel illustrations confound rather than clarify the issue, with an anthropomorphized moon implicated but never convicted in Tom’s initial transformation. With its combination of a 1950s-like backdrop, fable conventions, and incongruous inventions the art pairs realism and whimsy without really coming down on either side; lightness is never fully embraced nor darkness fully explored. Neither a clear morality tale nor a successful satire—and entirely too text-heavy for the crowd who could simply laugh at Tom blowing bubbles from all three mouths—this perplexing book, like a pie, is best left to cool on the shelf. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois