Simon James Books

Simon James Books Logo

Children's Author and Illustrator, Author visits to schools, Book festivals,

  • Home
  • About Simon
  • Books
  • Author Visits
  • News
  • Play
  • Contact Simon

Wall Street Journal review of Nurse Clementine

September 24, 2013 by Simon James

A little girl who enjoys playing nurse comes to her brother’s aid. Meghan Cox Gurdon reviews Simon James’s “Nurse Clementine” 

Like all the best picture books, Simon James’s “Nurse Clementine” (Candlewick, 40 pages, $15.99) packs a remarkable amount of nuance, humor and emotional truth into a relatively small number of pages—though children ages 3-7 who ask to hear it read aloud repeatedly may notice only what an endearing book it is.

Our protagonist is a young girl whose parents give her a nurse’s outfit and a first-aid kit for her birthday. “It’s just what I wanted,” Nurse Clementine says, gravely donning her new attire. She doesn’t have long to wait before her first emergency: When her father bangs his toe, Nurse Clementine jumps into action. In Mr. James’s sweet, unaffected illustrations we see her kneeling before her bemused parent, binding his injury with yards of gauze. He must keep the bandage on for a week. “A week?” her father moans. “A week,” she says firmly.

By good fortune, Nurse Clementine’s mother also needs treatment, as does the family dog. Vexingly, however, Nurse Clementine’s dream patient, her little brother, Tommy, refuses medical care. A caped superhero, he leaps from the furniture and zooms through the air, crashing every time. But when the nurse rushes to his aid, he shrugs her off. Poor Nurse Clementine! The frustrated caregiver tries practicing on herself, and even on a drainpipe, but that’s no fun. It is only after Tommy really needs his sister’s help, in a genuine emergency, that he and Nurse Clementine reach a happy accommodation. Swaddled like a mummy, Tommy must keep his bandages on for a week. “All week?” he says. “Great!”

Filed Under: News

Recent News

  • Book Trust Review
  • Wall St Journal -Best Children’s Books of 2018
  • Mr Scruff -the cover
  • Languages
  • Mr Scruff is complete

News archive

  • October 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • July 2015
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • March 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011

Back to Top

Copyright © Simon James 2021

· Site design by BlackPenPress.co.uk

MENU
  • Home
  • About Simon
  • Books
  • Author Visits
  • News
  • Play
  • Contact Simon