Eddie’s very tall, lanky stature poses more than a logistics problem at school. Viewed as the oddball of the class, he’s teased and called a giraffe, a walking staircase, ladderhead and even a skyscraper. When his mother arrives on report card day, and the teacher must greet the equally tall Mrs. Longpants from the rooftop of the school, classmate Pete’s merciless bullying brings tears and pain to Eddie under the teacher’s wrathful disapproval. Escaping up a tree to avoid the angry Miss Snowpea, Pete realizes that it’s too high to climb down and he becomes scared, at which point, the big-hearted Eddie uses his fireman dad’s hook and ladder to generously rescue the cowardly, ill-mannered Pete. Eddie’s gangling awkwardness is overshadowed by his gentle, kind demeanor, subtly demonstrating the golden rule principle to all his misbehaving classmates. Levert’s watercolor-and-gouache acrylic paintings offer a textured look of colors that bleed and blend for her exaggeratedly imagined scenarios of the verbal taunts. Coupled with a top-to-bottom layout accentuating the elongated focus of each scene, this is sympathetic and to the point. (Picture book. 3-6)
