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You just know that any chapter book that begins with the hurricane of 1938 is off to a great start and it only gets better! As adored children’s book illustrator Tomie DePaola recalls his five-year-old self, he also remembers marvelous anecdotes brimming with humour. From his first day of kindergarten, on which the nonplussed tot decides to go home since they don’t teach reading until next year, to the time he feeds his Nana laxatives thinking they are chocolates, the author revels in the kind of memories that make childhood magical. Whether the author is fondly recalling drawing life-sized figures on the house’s unfinished walls or sadly remembering not seeing Snow White after all the hype, this smorgasbord of cherished memories spread out between 1938 and 1939 is enjoyable reading from a truly exceptional contemporary voice in children’s books.