Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox , illustrated by Julie Vivas (1984) is a lovely, lovely book. The main character is a small boy who “wasn’t very old either. His house was next to an old people’s home and he knew all the people who lived there.” Readers meet the old people. The small boy’s favorite is Miss Alison Delacourt Cooper. When he learns that she’s lost her memory, he sets out to help her find it. Julie Vivas’s illustrations are imaginative, colorful, and full of joy. Her use of whitspace makes for an intimate relationship with each character. This is one of the best children’s picture books I’ve ever read.
