PERFECT PETUNIAS

A frustrated urchin receives a lesson about accepting mistakes.

Little Loppy Lac can’t copy the letter “a” consistently and finally throws a tantrum. Companion Curly Calmster calms the tempest by pointing out that just as petunias should be allowed to grow higgledy-piggledy, errors should likewise be seen as natural: “Being OK with how you do things is all part of letting your petunias grow how they grow.” Lonergan has plainly absorbed this lesson, as the two-color art features two creatures drawn in scribbles—one sporting googly eyes and huge rubbery lips, the other with a fixed smile on a head that resembles a moon-faced turnip—who are inexplicably linked through all the minimally detailed scenes by an undulating red-and-white striped tail that, weirdly, replaces Loppy’s stubby one at the end. The interchange continues as Curly responds to Loppy’s complaint that he was trying his best with an approving “When you focus on the ‘trying’ part you are being the most perfect YOU,” after which Loppy picks a petunia as a reminder and returns to his homework with a new attitude.

Zen masters may be able to draw useful insights from this earnest entry in the Lessons of a LAC series (for “Little Anxious Creature”).