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LAZY OZZIE by Michael Coleman

LAZY OZZIE

By

Pub Date: March 1st, 1996
Publisher: "Little Tiger (12221 W. Feerick St., Wauwatosa, WI 53222)"

A cumulative tale with a manipulative youngster as its hero. A young owl, Ozzie, is lazy; when his mother, hoping he'll fly, orders him down to the ground while she goes hunting, he finds a way around the order by enlisting the help of the other farmyard animals. Ozzie hops onto the horse and is carried to the cow; he hops onto the cow and demands to be carried to the pig, etc. In this fashion, he descends lower and lower, until he is safely on the ground. Coleman delivers the story in a comically rapid style, a crazy routine that ends in Ozzie's comeuppance (his mother has been watching him the entire time). It's fairly feeble humor, but preschoolers will love and soon be able to predict the phases of Ozzie's descent. Skillful watercolor and ink illustrations add bounce, but never get in the way of the story.