Tell Me a Mitzi

Three hilarious, quirky tales about a young city girl's adventures big and small, from taking a taxi to meeting the president.

Lore Segal's classic children's book tells three stories about Mitzi and her family, whose lives unfold within a gritty and yet dreamy cityscape of stoops and row houses that seem to have emerged from a time out of time. In the first story, Mitzi dresses up her baby brother and sets out with him to visit their grandparents, a venturesome undertaking that takes a curious turn when a key piece of information proves missing. In the second, Mitzi's whole family falls sick, but a fool-proof remedy rides in to the rescue. In the last, the president comes to town and Mitzi's day is made. Lore Segal's droll dialogue and off-kilter storytelling are beautifully complemented by Harriet Pincus’s unnervingly earnest and goofy underground comic-book style illustrations, which won the praise of Maurice Sendak. These are stories about childhood independence and family closeness that capture childhood in all its puzzlement, resourcefulness, unsentimental wonder.