ARMADILLO’S ORANGE

A young armadillo learns to value his neighbors in this slight tale. Armadillo has always trusted in the orange by his burrow to mark his home, rushing impatiently past the other denizens of his woods. But when the orange rolls away, he realizes that he can find his way home by locating the animals that live around him. Arnosky’s signature watercolors glow a bright green and invest his homely protagonist with a remarkable amount of character. However appealing the illustrations, though, they don’t make much sense of the story: if Armadillo never noticed his neighbors before, how can he orient by them now, in his hour of need? The lesson contained within is a comforting one for young children, but the realities of the natural world, usually Arnosky’s strong point, are here regrettably subverted to that lesson. (Picture book. 3-6)