From the moment she arrives in Venice, Vendela shares her impressions of the city, often peppering them with facts and suggestions that are as amusing as they are helpful: “On the square there is a statue of a man whom the Venetians call Caga libri (“book-pooper”), because a pile of books has fallen down from under his coat, in the back.” And, of course, she gets to visit her beloved horses, and shares some of their history in her “Horse Diary.” The story isn’t all candy stores and boat rides, though--our heroine also gets a fish bone stuck in her throat, learns some hard lessons about comparison shopping and worries that Venice may be under water before she gets the chance to bring her own children there. The book ends with a few pages of “Things you might like to know,” which provide useful family-friendly travel tips, as well as a recommendation for the best “pasticceria” (candy store) in Venice.
Christina Bjork (as translated by Patricia Crampton) sustains Vendela’s chatty, completely believable first-person voice throughout the story--young readers will never feel that they are being patronized or “talked down to.” Vendela’s precocious vocabulary may be rather challenging for younger children, but it’s not out of line for a ten-year-old who likes to read. The tidbits of historical information that appear throughout the book are always engaging, never preachy or didactic. There are a couple of brief art history “lessons” that focus on the small details that children are most likely to notice: “…food falling on the floor, rabbits scratching themselves, cats fighting, monkeys stealing fruit. The most usual seem to be little dogs. Yes, I always look for the dogs at the bottom.”
Ericksson incorporates a variety of graphic design techniques into the book, creating a collage effect that is a cross between holiday scrapbook and Griffin and Sabine. Her illustrations are detailed and realistic--almost photographic in their clarity--yet they also manage to capture the shifting nuances of light that make Venice so special. Many of the pictures are stunning, including the winged lion who smiles proudly as he presents the table of contents, a view of the Campanile of San Marco surrounded by fluttering pigeons and a lively two-page spread that shows Vendela and her father enjoying a drink at Florian’s, with the bustling Piazza behind them.
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