PURPLE COYOTE

From France, a nonsensical story of one tricky coyote and a boy whose curiosity gets the better of him. A small boy notices an unusual coyote on the backyard hill of desert sand. This coyote is strangely purple and balances himself weathervane-like on one paw to send a distinctive howl into the air. The coyote will not reveal the origins of his coloring, or the reasons for his pose or howl. Jim pesters the creature with questions before, in a show of bravado, standing on one hand and howling. He turns purple and is thanked by the coyote, who has reverted to his desert-sand color. Jim attempts to entice a raccoon to a similar state of curiosity about his new color, but the raccoon is resoundingly not interested. Bold colors spar, at angles to one another, with the purple coyote or the boy’s red truck or cap keenly contrasted by planes of sky and sand. There’s no logic to this peculiar fantasy, except to highlight the perils of curiosity. Although the main character of the boy is never really endowed with personality, Rochette maintains the coyote’s character by painting a gleam in his eye that underscores his perpetual something-up-my-sleeve attitude. (Picture book. 3-6)