Herself the Elf: The Sing Out of Spring

by Nora Anderson

Genres: Picture Books

24 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Theresa F.]

I fully admit, I am no longer in the target age group for this book. But I was an '80s child', and since this work is based on one of the more obscure toy lines of the 1980s, when I came across a copy for less than a dollar at a thrift store I wanted to read it anyway. It even still had the accompanying record, although the record is scratched so I have no idea whether it will still play.
I agree with a previous Goodreads reviewer who stated that the book was harder to follow due to it being composed largely of dialogue where the characters speaking are not identified in the text. The plot also seems to follow some internal logic that comes across as counter-productive in places but might make more sense if I knew more about the Herself the Elf characters and universe.
The book did feature some charming, brightly colored artwork, so at least it had that going for it.
Did I like it? Not really.
Would I reread it? No.
Would I recommend it? As a story, no. As a nostalgic time capsule of early 1980s American Greetings artwork, maybe.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was a kid, book and record combos were quite ubiquitous. I know I had quite a few, and have retained, alas, none (that I've found....) I don't remember listening to them, but they were common. "When you hear this sound, turn the page," is about the only part I remember. They stayed around a little when tapes replaced records, but a tape didn't really slip into a flap pocket at the back of a book. By the time CDs came around, I believe the concept had died. CDs would have solved the physical issue, but by then there was cable TV with children-exclusive channels providing a 24-hour stream of kids video programming, followed by the inter-web and YouTube videos.

In my quest to collect obscure 1980s pop-culture children's books I have ended up with a few of these book and record combos, including this one. It actually has the record in it, but I no longer have a record player, so I must judge it on its literary merits alone. And I have found it lacking. Where most of these books stand on their own, this one is really meant as a companion to the record. The whole story is mostly dialogue, but they didn't bother with superfluous things like quotation marks, or identifying who is speaking. I could still follow the story well enough, but it's falls short there as well.

Herself the Elf must discover why the robins have stopped singing. No sooner does she establish the problem, than they hear a cry for help and find...a robin (that looks nothing like a robin) who tells them exactly what caused the problem and how to solve it. They venture to the local villain's castle, he demands her wand, she gives it to free the kidnapped robin (in a cage with four bars that it could easily walk out of). I assume this is a clever trick, but it isn't. Considering she has done no magic, I don't know what makes it a wand and not a stick. And then she manages to get herself trapped. But her friends rescue her in the obvious way.

The story ends with an impressively narcissistic poem, or song I suppose, half of which consists of repeating "Herself the Elf." Incidentally, it's really weird and distracting that the protagonist's name is Herself. Who would name a character that? Who? Why, American Greeting Cards. That's right, Hallmark doesn't have a monopoly on cute color-coded big-headed children designed to sell greeting cards and toys for eight-year-old girls. Though this is a pale imitation of Strawberry Shortcake, and I'm pretty certain Strawberry could take Herself in a fight. Just saying.