I just finished reading a book where Mama gets sawed in half and courted by a rather strange artist. Before she marries famous-artist man, she and her wide-eyed daugher Clara visit a gringo's house with a picture of a watermelon and a fly and go to fancy dinners. It's kind of strange and whimsical and the best kid's book I've read in a while.

So many kid's books display the traditional family unit: Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Brother and Sister. Not that there's anything wrong with the -- on the contrary, I believe it's ideal. But it is refreshing to read a kid's book where the family unit is outside the norm. Clara is an only child, Mama works -- and eventually, Mama gets married to a kind man who understands her childish and powerful imagination, She paints along with him and he claps his hands, telling her that she and he know "real magic".

The illustrations in the book are beautiful and imaginative -- a flying cat, a frog-man, odd perspectives, so Nolan is enthralled throughout, even though it's longer. Clara and Senor Frog is a refreshing departure from stories about cats, hats, bears and dinosaurs.