Queen Vernita is the benevolent ruler of the Kingdom of Oceaneer. To stave off her loneliness she invites one friend to visit her home for one month each. Beginning in January and moving through December, she and her friends engage in a variety of light-hearted, fun-filled and seasonally appropriate activities as the months, days contained in each month and days of the week are taught to young children.

Author Dawn Menge draws upon her experience with special needs populations and interest in instructional techniques to form the basis for Queen Vernita’s Visitors, a colourful, whimsical introduction into the yearly cycle we are most familiar with in calendar form. By presenting the flow of time in a repetitive, story format, abstract calendar-based concepts are more easily absorbed by young children.

After setting the stage by counting each month and laying the groundwork for the visit of Queen Vernita’s friends, a repetitive and soothingly predictable pattern is begun. Each month is presented in a two-page spread, with a full-colour illustration on the left panel and the simple text on the right. The following quote demonstrates the form in which each month’s information is conveyed along with repeating the days of the week:

“In January she invited Debbie. Debbie stayed from January 1st to January 31st. Queen Vernita loved her visit with Debbie.
“On Mondays, they played jolly jump rope.
“On Tuesdays, they played juggling jacks.
“On Wednesdays, they played four square.”

If some of the listed activities seem nonsensical, it may be due to the fact that the twelve characters who visit with the Queen throughout the year are based upon Menge’s own circle of family and friends. Doubtless, some of these activities are favourites of her loved ones and inside references to pleasurable times spent together.

The art is whimsical and seasonally appropriate. In keeping with the fantastical world of castles perched on cliffs and royalty, the costumes are generally reminiscent of earlier times, with long flowing gowns, full length cloaks and men in tights. Modern swimsuits are depicted in one illustration. The backgroud colour on the text pages coordinates with a main colour in the illustration, contributing to a whimsical, lively appearance throughout.

What charm the title has is detracted from by the rather sloppy illustrations of Bobbi Switzer. No matter how colourful, I have yet to be won over to the thick black outlines and simplistic, two-dimensional internal shading that are reminiscent of the spray paint feature on the classic “Paint” program. When paired with inconsistent drawings of the main character (at times appearing young, at others old, black eyes in all but two illustrations in which they are blue), and proportion issues (hands and head size vary wildly and are at times far too large), aesthetically discerning readers will be disappointed and possibly annoyed. To be fair, there are select illustrations where these concerns are not present; if only every one had been as carefully executed.

My three-year-old wandered off part way through the reading, but my six-year-old stayed until the end. She’s currently working on learning her calendar facts, and as such Queen Vernita meets her needs. Young students may benefit from exposure to this work as a supplementary aid to learning calendar facts. However, I’m hesitant to recommend it in any but the direst situations due to lack of professional quality illustrations.

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Publisher Info:

Title: Queen Vernita’s Visitors
Author: Dawn Menge
Format: Paperback, 36 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (April 9, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1598007149
ISBN-13: 978-1598007145