"Don't make so much noise... Pull up your socks... Don't spill the milk." Fed up with always being told what to do - by her older sister, her mother, and her father - Lisa walks out of her house and into the woods. She's running away! But an unexpected meeting with a grompet - a furry little creature whose exact nature is never revealed - leads to the realization that a home in which no one cared enough to ever give commands, would be a terrible thing. And so Lisa decides to return home, bossing her new grompet friend the whole way, of course!

A brief picture-book from Patricia Coombs, creator of the marvelous early-reader series devoted to Dorrie the Little Witch, Lisa and the Grompet offers a sympathetic portrait of an aggrieved (and somewhat sulky) young child. Reading as an adult, I'm a little bemused by the notion - implied in the text - that one can be reconciled to being ordered around by the ability to give orders oneself, but as a child reader I simply identified with Lisa's sense of indignation. I also relished Coombs' illustrations, which aren't quite as winsome as in the Dorrie books, but which still kept me engaged as a girl. ( )

What a sweet little fable this is! Lisa is tired of everyone always telling her what to do, and so she runs away. She runs so far away she can't even see her house anymore. While she is away from home, she meets the Grompet and from this magical creature, gets a bit of perspective. The illustrations are charming and the story is sweet. Lisa reminds me a little bit of Frances the badger with a dash of Ramona the pest. ( )