Two friends draw and write a nature story—before the reader’s eyes! Young Danny and Ettie wave to the reader as they stand in front of the zoo entrance, all bundled up on a snowy day. Danny also explains that he’s carrying his yellow drawing book (which looks just like the book in hand). Inside, the pair studies the elephants and the aardvark. After Danny shows his pictures, the book switches to the inside of Danny’s yellow drawing book and the children take over (several drawings to a page); only a few items in the pencil drawings are colored in, and the dialogue balloons look handwritten. Their wild adventure includes a daring airplane ride and a journey through the aardvark’s network of underground tunnels. At the end of the journey, illustrations switch back to their full-color pencil-and-acrylic boldness. Ettie and Danny wonder what they’ll draw tomorrow. Delicious premise, crisply written, with its sublime surprise tucked in the middle of the story for maximum impact. Young readers should be inspired to emulate Ettie and Danny. (Picture book. 5-8)
