A FRIEND FOR MOLE

An unlikely friendship buds.

Armo’s story starts with an image of Mole in his underground digs: “He liked...the quiet darkness all around.” One day, “loud shouting and laughter” bring Mole to the surface to investigate, but he is blinded by the light (though his beady eyes squint only inconsistently). Sanctuary is found when he bumbles into a dark bush. There he meets Wolf. Wolf is scared of the dark, as Mole seems to be as well, though he says he is not. Curiously, Wolf has been chased into the bush by a rabbit, a skunk, and a beaver—what many a wolf would consider to be dinner. Mole and Wolf entertain each other until dawn, Wolf implicitly passing on another meal. At daybreak they venture out from the bush, and Wolf locates Mole’s entrance to his burrow; at this point, they learn they are close neighbors. “Garbled” is the word for these proceedings: Mole’s timorousness is confusing, both narrow and broad; Wolf, as any kindergartener knows, should be eating his nemeses and his new friend. Armo has a soft touch with the pencil and brush, but her characters are way too weirdly out of character.

Bewildering.