‘Marvelous Cornelius’ revisits Katrina cleanup

How boring is that? It’s much more exciting to get things out than it is to put them away, right? But guess what: When someone helps, cleaning your room isn’t a chore. If you make it a game, in fact, it’s actually fun. In the new book “Marvelous Cornelius” by Phil Bildner, illustrated by John Parra, you’ll see how that works.

In the French Quarter, everybody knew Cornelius Washington.

They called him the Marvelous Cornelius because, well, he was! People looked forward to seeing him on the back of his garbage truck, waving and calling “Mornin’!” to everyone near Jackson Square.

But cleaning up wasn’t all that the Marvelous Cornelius did: At every stop, he “sashayed to the curb and shimmied to the hopper” of the truck. He hollered to the people nearby before yelling “Showtime!” and the fun began. Cornelius did one-handed cartwheels and flips. He danced with the garbage bags before he lined them all up and threw them — one, two, three, four — into the back of the truck. Not one stray paper missed his grab. Not one bit of trash was ignored. Not one bottle went unnoticed as he spun and weaved from curb to curb, dancing with the garbage cans, making a “one-man parade” in the Quarter. The Marvelous Cornelius left his neighbors happy and his city as clean as a whistle.

But early one late summer morning, a storm came roaring into New Orleans. It didn’t take long for the streets to fill with water and for people and cars and rooftops to float up and away. It was “a gumbo of mush and mud,” and days later, after the waters left, Marvelous Cornelius could see that the cleaning job would be too big for him to handle. That made him cry, but “his spirit and will were waterproof.”

What else could he do but get back out to his beloved streets behind his truck? There was work to be done, with the help of neighbors, new friends and people who came to help. They had a city to clean!

Chances are, though the child to whom you’ll read this book will hear news stories about the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, he won’t remember it. He might even be too young to understand — which is why you’ll want this wonderful slice-of-life on your shelf.

Based loosely on the real Mr. Washington, “Marvelous Cornelius” is lively and colorful, just like its setting. Bildner’s story is good, made better with illustrations by Parra; together, they give kids a sense of Big Easy charm in the first half, followed by unmistakable devastation in the latter half. Beware that that could cause a minor scare for sensitive kids, but it’ll also help them clearly understand what happened and the meaningful afterward.

This is a great book for kids 3 to 5, although curious early grade-schoolers might like it, too. “Pick up your toys” may have new meaning after reading “Marvelous Cornelius,” so pick it up, too.

— View publishes Terri Schlichenmeyer’s reviews of books for children weekly.