The Apartment House on Poppy Hill – written by Nina LaCour, illustrated by Sònia Albert
Chronicle Books, 2023
My title for this review is a reference to Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight’s Eloise. The high-spirited heroine of The Apartment House on Poppy Hill reminds me a bit of her, if Eloise were kind and thoughtful instead of annoying and bratty. Eloise lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, while Ella Josephine Norwood lives in a Victorian multi-unit Victorian house in San Francisco. For all Eloise’s wealth and privilege, her parents are absent, while Ella has two loving moms who are involved in every one of her activities. But both the pictures and words bring to mind a girl who takes chances and sometimes oversteps boundaries. In Ella’s case, her tendency to do that leads to kindness and friendship.
When a new couple, Cleo and Leo, move into 1106 Wildflower Place, Ella is determined to help them, on her own schedule and with her own priorities. When Cleo asks her to move out of the way as she and her partner lug in heavy furniture, Ella interprets the formulaic “Excuse me” as an apology, instead of a polite request. (“If I’m in your way, don’t say ‘excuse me’ when you really want me to excuse myself! That’s just confusing!”) When Cleo and Leo do ask for her help in lighting their stove, Ella complies only after giving them a tour of the building. Like everyone else in this residence, they come to rely on Ella’s assistance and to accept her for the quirky and irreplaceable kid that she is. Words and pictures work together in this illustrated novel. Sònia Albert’s pictures of Ella placing a jaunty beret on her head, or watching the laundry spin while seated in beach chair, complement Nina LaCour’s descriptions and dialogue in building character.
If her boldness is somewhat like Eloise’s, and her confusion about literal language akin to Amelia Bedelia, the odd assortment of tenants has something of Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy. There is Matilda, “a woman in purple pants and with long red hair” who addresses Ella as “darling.” She uses a giant ostrich fan instead of an air conditioner and plays an instrument whose booming sound mimics an earthquake. Matilda could certainly have turned up Harriet Welch’s secret notebook. Although Ella is much more tolerant, like Harriet, she has her suspicions of people. In this case, they are an elderly couple named Gertrude and Archibald Robinson. Making assumptions based on faulty information is not the route to being a good neighbor. Eventually, everyone’s role at 1106 Wildflower Place makes sense. The flowers embedded in the address’s name play a key part in the plot and its resolution.
Imaginary Elevators 