"I will find a way out and through, surely
I will, she thought.
She was standing with her head back,
studying the leaping shadows, when
someone said, "Well, well, what delightful
morsel do we have here?"
Evangeline turned.
A large, marmalade-colored cat was
sitting on the flagstone floor, staring
right at her."
When a kind cobbler finds the tiniest baby in the toe of one of the boots that have been left for him to fix, he falls immediately in love with the tiny creature. Providing all the care and attention he can, the child grows to be a lovely, still tiny, girl. Their love for each other provides them with dreams of one day going on a sea voyage.
The cobbler's wife is not much pleased with their loving relationship, and the way her husband protects the child at every turn. She feels forgotten, and jealous. When the child is discovered by a manservant sent to have shoes made for the rich old widow he serves, he is insistent that the cobbler sell the child to him. Of course, the father won't but his wife is not so reluctant to have Evangeline gone. She makes a deal for gold, the deed is done, and the child disappears.
The rest of the story is told of the two searching for each other. Knowing their love for the sea, each finds passage on boats that travel the world. All the while, they long to find the other one. Through a series of adventures and misadventures, they continue their search. Is it possible after all they have been through to finally be reunited?
When she meets a kind young tailor, Evangeline convinces him to leave his dreary, confining life and go to sea with her. That way, they can continue searching for her father. As she is wont to do, Ms. DiCamillo uses the coda to catch her readers up with her splendid characters. Is the story told a myth ... created to enttrance and entertain readers for the third time, in the land of Norendy? Will father and daughter finally find each other? What do you think?
Sophie Blackall's black-and-white artwork fills in details and brings characters to life. It is the icing on this delicious cake. Bravo!
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