I have to quote some reviews about this one, so it won't just be me bragging about it. A Kirkus pointer review said, "Many books memorialize imaginative play in the hope of inspiring a new generation, but rarely with so much creative and evocative power." A starred review in Booklist called it "memorable ... A celebration of the transforming powers of the imagination . . . an original." It was published by Lothrop in 1991 with luminous illustrations by Barbara Cooney. Older readers who already know and love this book will want also to read a related book of a very different sort: The Legacy of Roxaboxen. And of course anyone who reads either book will want to look at the photos take by my cousin Bill of Roxaboxen Park. The City of Yuma has created from the sandy hill that Marian and her friends named "Roxaboxen" a natural desert park. Roxaboxen can continue to serve as a playground for the imagination of today's children and tomorrow's - as it did back in 1915. Roxaboxen will always be there in the mind's eye, beloved by those who have known it, and all those who have made such places of their own. That circle is growing. A Japanese translation of the story has been popular since the book first came out, and educational uses are as common there as here. And in 2004 there was a brand-new edition of Roxaboxen: my second book in Urdu, published by the Bookgroup, with new illustrations by Naila Ahmed. The story could easily have taken place in Pakistan - that country too has towns in deserts not unlike that of Yuma; ocotillo grows there too. Rather than show the cover, I'd rather share one of my favorite inside illustrations. I can't read Urdu, but the picture tells it all. This is clearly the picture that goes with the same lines that Lothrop used on a poster for their edition: Marian was mayor, of course; that was just the way she was. Nobody minded. Here she is campaigning! There is now a translation of the story, again with Barbara Cooney’s art, in Korea as well. But for a glimpse of a real, rather than imagined, Roxaboxen created on the other side of the globe, there’s now a special page that lets you see what was created decades ago by children in Ethiopia -- just click on this link. Return to list of books | Return to home page