Take the Big Picture

by James Reaney

In an age of computer-composing, the conceit of writing only until the ink potempties is ingenious: it is entirely in keeping with James Reaney's good old-fashionednarrative sense. A lively highway romp from British Columbia to Ontario as Andre Delahay, recently fired university professor, returns with six progeny from a domesticsabbatical is balaned by life on the home front played out by Granny, his mother, and Lucy, mother of his unwieldy menage. The two family strands connect and, after a briefstruggle with the elements and a pair of folksy criminals, reunite. In a delightful bit ofinstruction we learn that it is possible for the family unit to survive the onslaughtof triplets, job loss, emotional breakdown and the three generation household. Equallyremarkable is the wisdom of seventeen-year-ol Colin who quite literally keeps the showon the road: he gently tames his three unruly five-year-old brothers with assists from theSasquatch, the mythical beast of which the Terrible Three are mortally afraid. But thenthis is, after all, a romantic comedy in which trials and tribulations are eitherblessings in disguise or temporary setbacks on the narrative road to a happy resolution.'-- Canadian Children's LiteratureJames Reaney was born on a farm in South Easthope near Stratford, Ontarioin 1926. He has won the Governor General's Award three timesfor his poetry, though he is perhaps better-known as a playwright, especially for his landmark Donnelly trilogy (1974-75).Reaney's theatrical adaptation of Lewis Carroll'sAlice Through the Looking-Glass returned to the stageat Stratford in the summer of 1996.His work includes: The Red Heart, poems, 1949; A suit of Nettles, poems,1958; Twelve Letters to a Small Town, poems, 1962; The Killdeer & Other Plays, drama, 1962; Colours in the Dark, drama, 1969; Collected Poems, 1972; Listen to the Wind, drama, 1972; The Donnellys, a trilogy of plays, 1974-75; Baldoon (with C.H. Gervais), 1976; The Boy With an R in His Hand, young adult, 1980; Take the Big Picture, young adult, 1986; Alice Through the Looking-Glass, stage adaptation, 1994."

Library Binding

First published April 1, 1986

About the author

James Crerar Reaney, OC FRSC was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor. Reaney won Canada's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times and received the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.