In Knudsen’s warm story, good things don’t always
come to those who wait (reviewed on this page).
Picture Books
The First Slodge
Jeanne Willis, illus. by Jenni Desmond. Tiger
Tales, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58925-169-4
Part quirky creation myth, part friendship fable, Willis’s (Chicken Clicking ) story
features two creatures who think they are
singular in the world—until they find
each other. After the “first Slodge in the
universe” emerges (Desmond envisions
the creature as a sort of primordial sea-green cousin to a gummy bear), she
embraces all that she sees as her own: “She
saw the first star. And the first moon. ‘My
star, my moon,’ she said.” But when she
discovers that a second Slodge has taken a
bite of her fruit, a turf war begins (“And
they fought the first fight”), and the two
Slodges have a scare that pushes them to
realize they are even better as a team.
Desmond’s (Eric, the Boy Who Lost His
Gravity) lumpy Slodges and other whimsical creations (a blue palmlike tree, a
yellow serpentine Snawk) conjure a
strange bygone world in its infancy—an
inviting setting for readers to explore
themes of friendship, sharing, and stewardship. “The world didn’t belong to
anyone,” writes Willis. “It was there to
share.” Ages 3–7. (Mar.)
Party Croc!
A Folktale from Zimbabwe
Margaret Read MacDonald, illus. by Derek
Sullivan. Albert Whitman, $16.99 (32p) ISBN
978-0-8075-6320-5
A girl strikes an impulsive bargain
with a crocodile in MacDonald’s (The Boy
from the Dragon Palace) retelling of a folktale attributed to the Shona people in
Zimbabwe. Fetching water from a pool
swarming with fish, Zuva wishes aloud
that she could catch some. When a crocodile asks what Zuva will give him if he
helps her out, she invites him to a party on
Saturday, figuring he couldn’t get into
town and wouldn’t know when it was
Saturday, anyway. All week, Croc exuberantly asks passersby what day it is,
shouting, “Party! Party! Going to a party!
Party! Party! I’m a PARTY CROC!”
Newcomer Sullivan’s vivid cartoons cap-
ture Croc’s enthusiasm but aren’t enough
to offset the repetitive story’s lack of
momentum. It takes far too long for Croc
to reach the party (after Saturday finally
arrives, Zuva spends several pages feeding
Croc before they get to the festivities), and
he’s promptly ejected by the townspeople
when he does arrive. The closing message,
delivered by Zuva’s father (“Never invite a
crocodile to a party! And never make a
promise you cannot keep”) gets lost in a
muddled conclusion. Ages 4–7. (Mar.)
; Marilyn’s Monster
Michelle Knudsen, illus. by Matt Phelan.
Candlewick, $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-
6011-6
A girl named Marilyn watches with
increasing frustration as monsters of
every shape, size, and cryptozoological
origin pair up with her peers to serve as
playmates, companions, and protectors.
Her snarky older brother has a pink-and-
green blob that he wears on his head, and
“Timmy’s monster chose him right in the
middle of a history test” (Phelan shows
an enormous furry hand thrusting into
her classroom through a window,
pointing at the boy next to her). In
Marilyn, Knudsen (Big Mean Mike) cre-
ates a highly sympathetic everychild
experiencing a full spectrum of emo-
tions: doubt, uncertainty, anger, confi-
dence, and boldness. Meanwhile, Phelan
(Druthers), working in watercolor and
pencil, creates a wild cast of monsters,
from pond-dwelling tentacles to cat-
stegosaur hybrids and the fuzzy winged
creature Marilyn eventually finds
trapped up in a tree (“ I got lost,” it
explains. “And then I got scared. And
then I got stuck”). Rich with feeling, it’s
a warm, gently funny reminder to chase
down one’s dreams, rather than waiting
for them to appear on the doorstep. Ages
4–8. Author’s agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers
House. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman,
Writers House. (Mar.)
Roger Is Reading a Book
Koen Van Biesen, trans. from the Dutch by
Laura Watkinson. Eerdmans, $16 (42p) ISBN
978-0-8028-5442-1
Belgian artist Van Biesen’s fluid line,
witty typography, and bits of photographic collage give this story an abundance of style. “Shhhh! Quiet. Roger is
reading. Roger is reading a book,” Van
Biesen begins while a studious fellow in a
bow tie and a tweed cap sits on a stool in
his apartment, perusing a small volume.
The next page reveals his neighbor, a
small girl in a violet dress with a butterfly
perched on her head; the gutter of the
book serves as the intervening wall
between their apartments. “Boing Boing.
Emily is playing. Emily is playing a
game.” Emily bounces a basketball, whose
multiple images convey the barrage of
noise. He knocks on the wall grumpily,
and the arms race continues as Emily
switches to singing, drumming, juggling,
ballet, and boxing. Roger’s frustration
grows until he arrives at a tidy solution—
a book for Emily. The comic escalation of
Emily’s noisy pursuits, combined with
delightfully unexpected details (Emily’s
toy giraffe becomes a lamp as she reads
into the night), add up to a beautifully
crafted piece of work. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)
Thank You, Jackson: How One
Little Boy Makes a Big Difference
Niki and Jude Daly. Frances Lincoln/Otter-Barry (Quarto, dist.), $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-
84780-484-6
The husband-and-wife Daly team (Seb
and Hamish) presents a straightforward
parable about the value of gratitude, starring a South African family of farmers.
The farmer, his wife, and their son rely on
their donkey, Jackson, to transport their
produce on market day. One day, as the
farmer and donkey trudge uphill, Jackson
stops and refuses to move: “The poor
animal had had enough of his thankless
task, carrying heavy loads year after year
uphill to the market.” At wit’s end, the
farmer prepares to beat the donkey with a
Children’s/ YA
