Fans of Bink and Gollie will be pleased to welcome them back in three more humorous linked adventures that, as in their earlier appearances, play off their differences but ultimately affirm their mutual affection.
First, Gollie has dreams of grandeur that don’t impress Bink a bit—and don’t quite work out as she hopes. Next, Bink succumbs to the siren song of an advertisement for an unusual device that promises to make her grow. It succeeds, after a fashion, but doesn’t actually change the status quo. Finally, the two girls seek fame and glory through (relatively) traditional means but wind up deciding to use a different measure of success when their plans don’t pan out. At the end, of course, they discover what readers already know: Friendship is the best prize of all. Fucile’s digital artwork extends both the humor and the broad appeal. With wide-eyed, smiling characters, crisp black outlines and exaggerated details, they’re reminiscent of (really good) old-fashioned Saturday-morning cartoons. They also offer lots of entertaining elements to linger over, including visual references to earlier exploits, clever use of color to keep the focus clearly on the two main characters and sly jokes to supplement the amusing wordplay.
There may be no new ground broken, but there is still another bumper crop of fun to be had with these two BFFs. (Early reader. 6-8)
