Else Breen

A tiny man named Martin Meeker searches for a job and a sense of purpose in this Norwegian picture-book. Discounted and disrespected by the "normal" sized people around him, he becomes quite discouraged, until he receives a letter from television singer Pauline Lagrande, asking him for his help. It turns out that Pauline, who has grown so huge that she can barely fit in her house, wants to be sold to the circus. As Martin sets out to help her, something odd begins to happen: he begins to grow, just as Pauline begins to shrink. Eventually, they meet somewhere in the middle...

Originally published in Oslo as Martin Minus og Pauline Plus, and adapted in English for the Toronto-based Annick Press, Martin Meeker and Pauline Lagrande is a rather odd book. Quite text-heavy, for a picture-book - each two-page spread contains a huge chunk of text, paired with a full page or page and a half of illustration - it features a story that is more interesting than it is engaging. I think it's clear that the reader is meant to suppose that Martin and Pauline's conditions are caused by a lack of a sense of purpose on the one hand, and too much praise on the other. Which is all very well, message-wise, but doesn't make the characters any more appealing, or their story any more engrossing. The concluding comeuppance of the circus manager is clearly meant to be humorous, but failed to provoke any response in me at all. I was mostly indifferent to the story here, and didn't find the artwork any more engaging than the text. Tastes vary, of course, and there was nothing really wrong here, so if the reader is looking for quirky picture-books, or translated Norwegian children's stories, they might still want to give this one a try.… (mais)