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The Adventures of Max and Pinky: Best Buds
by Maxwell Eaton III
Reviewed by Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
"Max and Pinky are best buds. Always have been. Always will be."
Thus begins the story of Max and Pinky, a boy and his little pink pig—a pig who adores marshmallows. Sometimes they
do things apart, but not on Saturdays. Why? Because "every Saturday is Adventure Day!"
Only when Saturday rolls around, Max can't find Pinky, although he looks for him in a lot of places. Fortunately, a big
polar bear butt gives Max one last idea of where to look. (And truly, the idea behind the illustration is complete genius,
because it takes real imagination to think that a polar bear's behind resembles a marshmallow, and yet that's just what
Maxwell Eaton does.)
This book has cartoon-like primary-colored pictures that echo the simplicity and whimsy of the text. Many of the pages
have text balloons for some of the characters, but the primary text is simple enough that some early readers will be able to
manage it without much assistance.
Lucia and the Light
by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Mary Grandpré
Reviewed by Julie Falkner
Bright-eyed, button-nosed Lucia and her inquisitive shoulder-riding cat jump out at you from the cover of Lucia and the
Light. Who could resist this ready-for-adventure pair? They are brought to life by the partnership of Phyllis Root,
whose earlier works include the delightful Big Momma Makes the World, and Mary Grandpré, illustrator of the
Harry Potter series.
Grandpré's evocative pastel illustrations fill each double-page spread, surrounding the gentle words of this folktale-like
story. It begins in a cosy home where happiness abounds. Even fierce northern winters cannot disrupt the harmony of
Lucia and her family...until the day when the sun simply fails to rise. Has the fiery ball somehow become lost? When the
never-ending darkness becomes unbearable, our heroine knows what she must do: "I'll find the sun and be back in time for
breakfast."
As she and her faithful shoulder companion courageously ski up the mountain, the muted blues of the illustrations perfectly
capture the winter's harshness. On the mountaintop, another challenge awaits: hungry trolls! Can Lucia and her feline
friend outwit these oafs and recover the light?
This story about daylight conquering darkness uses both words and pictures to contrast the warmth of family love with the
chill of an endless wintry night. It also shows the value of friendship: our heroine may be daring but she can't make it on
her own.
Lucia and the Light is recommended reading in any season.
17 Things I'm Not Allowed to do Anymore
by Jenny Offill, illustrations by Nancy Carpenter
Reviewed by Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
Imagine you're a little girl. A little girl with lots of ideas. Lots of, shall we say, questionable ideas. Are you
imagining it? Good. Then you might just be the main character of 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore.
Here are a few of the things she not only thought of, but did:
I had an idea to staple my brother's hair to his pillow.
I am not allowed to use the stapler anymore.
I had an idea to set Joey Whipple's shoe on fire using the sun and a magnifying glass.
I am not allowed to set Joey Whipple on fire anymore.
I had an idea to give my brother the gift of cauliflower.
I am not allowed to give the gift of cauliflower anymore.
If you've guessed that the entire book is one idea to cause trouble after another, with the result that the main character
is no longer allowed to participate in that particular type of trouble-making, then I must tell you that you are correct.
But that it in no way makes this story predictable. And I will have to warn you that, even after you've read it once, you
will want to go back to it to remind yourself of all the various ways to get in trouble that the little girl has devised.
And if you were a kid, you'd definitely be trying out at least a few of the ones you hadn't thought of yourself, like, say,
walking backwards to school. Or possibly ordering something different for dinner.
There's a lot to love about this book besides the obvious humor of the situations. There are, for example, the mixed-media
illustrations, which incorporate digital images (that appear to be actual photographs) of things into the pen-and-ink
drawings, rendered in wonderful colors. Even the text is interesting to look at, appearing slightly weathered and, in
some cases, askew. A note in the front matter explains how that effect was achieved: "The text of this book is set in
Regula. To achieve the mottled look, the type was printed onto paper, which was crumpled and gently filed with an emery
board. The type was then rescanned and manipulated in Adobe Photoshop." I find that seriously interesting, and it resulted
in a pretty terrific book design.
One of my favorite parts of the book is the ending, where the main character has yet another terrifically bad idea: she
decides to trick everyone by saying the opposite of what she means. And what she says is "I'm sorry." I love that she's
true to her mischievous self all the way to the end, and doesn't end up changing in order to teach readers a lesson. And so
will young readers, who will understand what is right and wrong, what is silly and what is smart, and will know better than
to get into any serious mischief after reading it. But just to live vicariously, they are nearly guaranteed to want to
read this one again.
Little Fish
by Sanne te Loo
Reviewed by Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
An import from the Netherlands, the first American edition of this book came out in 2004.
The story stars young Rosa, whose boredom is broken when a little fish jumps into her lap. Rosa carries the fish (and a
significant amount of sea water) home in the folds of her skirt, then puts the fish in a bowl on her kitchen table. Rosa,
far too young to be using the stove alone, cooks corn rolls for the fish, who eats them all. Each day the little fish gets
significantly larger, until he's the size of a whale. The town's children help Rosa carry the improbably large and dry
fish back to the sea, then return to her house to eat the large cake she'd intended for the fish.
If you are willing to suspend all disbelief, then this story is charming and fun. The illustrations are colorful and
funny, and include fun details like a picture of a mermaid ("La Sirena") on a door and what appears to be a portrait of
Frida Kahlo in Rosa's kitchen. Later there's a vendor selling sugar skulls and Pan de Muerto (presumably for El Dia de los
Muertos) in a street where one of the buildings is helpfully labeled "Mexico."
While there was much whimsy and fantasy to like here, I found the choice to tell the story in present tense to be
annoying. It didn't add an air of discovery to the story, and the more conventional past tense would have amplified the
"once upon a time" nature of the story.
Books Reviewed:
The Adventures of Max and Pinky: Best Buds, by Maxwell Eaton III. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
ISBN: 0-3758-3803-3.
Lucia and the Light, by Phyllis Root. Illustrations by Mary Grandpré. Candlewick Press, 2006.
ISBN: 0-7636-2296-6.
17 Things I'm Not Allowed to do Anymore, by Jenny Offill. Illustrations by Nancy Carpenter.
Schwartz & Wade Books, 2007. ISBN: 0-3758-3596-4.
Little Fish, by Sanne te Loo. Kane/Miller, 2004. ISBN: 1-9291-3259-X.
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