If readers are ready to forgive its confused plot, the art offers much to appreciate.
Two dogs rescue their master’s accordion—and the world’s music—in Paris.
Victor and Hugo, a terrier and a basset hound, respectively, accompany their elderly, white master, Maestro, and his accordion on the banks of the River Seine. Appreciative viewers watch their performance, but a tossed salami causes Victor, Hugo, and the accordion to fall into the river. Both dogs (who start speaking once separated from their master) are illustrated with personality and emotion, and the oft-changing perspective keeps the pace moving. However, the core of the story—that Maestro’s accordion gets stuck in a tire that constantly evades capture and that said accordion suddenly houses the music of the world—feels arbitrary and even nonsensical. Victor and Hugo, along with many Parisians, chase the accordion, which somehow ends up in a sewer that Hugo and Victor access through a hidden door. Afraid they’re stuck in the sewer for good, Victor and Hugo sing a song that makes the whole of Paris sad…and leads Maestro to them. He liberates his accordion and leads the dogs back to the streets, where everyone celebrates the return of music to the world. While Blake’s lush oil paintings evoke the colors, vibrancy, diversity, and excitement of this little slice of Paris, his story is a disjointed jumble.
If readers are ready to forgive its confused plot, the art offers much to appreciate. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-24324-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
Waiting for Godot imagined for the playground population’s sensibilities.
If Samuel Beckett had written an early reader, it might look something like this one.
In the first of five chapters, Klassen places his now-familiar turtle and armadillo (wearing bowler hats) on a minimalist gray/green landscape with one flower and—on the facing page—one plant. Personalities are revealed through occasional, slow movement across the gutter together with color-coded dialogue that feels as if it is being invented in the moment, sans script. Turtle is inflexible, not wanting to relocate, even when Armadillo moves farther away after a bad feeling about the space. It is only when Snake (sporting a beret) appears near the mammal that Turtle joins them—just in time: A huge asteroid falls on the vacated spot. Readers have watched it coming, suspense effectively building as they turn the pages. In subsequent episodes, Armadillo attempts to be helpful; miscommunication abounds; and Turtle is stubborn, proud, and jealous of the unspeaking snake, now near the rock: “I see how it is. Just enough room for two.” Turtle playing the martyr: “Maybe I will never come back.” As daylight turns into a striking, rose-tinged sunset and then a starlit evening, a life-zapping extraterrestrial (created previously in Armadillo’s futuristic forest fantasy) stalks Turtle. At the last minute, a second asteroid annihilates the creature. Klassen’s animals react to their seemingly absurd—but never tragic—universe with characteristically subtle, humorous postures and eye maneuvers. The weirdness of it all exerts its own attractive force, drawing readers back to it to wonder and ponder.
Waiting for Godot imagined for the playground population’s sensibilities. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1562-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
Adorable, enchanting, and very ducky indeed.
Feathered newcomers make a memorable theater debut in this latest from actor Andrews and her daughter Hamilton.
Mr. Puddleduck assures his concerned spouse that they’ll find the right place to build a nest for their first clutch of eggs. Exhausted Mrs. P hops into a flower box outside a theater displaying a poster of a performer holding a feathered fan (“That’s a good sign,” says Mr. P). Mrs. P lays her eggs, and Mr. P notes activities inside and outside the building. Peeking in, Mr. P is dazzled by musicians as well as performers wearing glittery costumes: It’s a show! After one rehearsal, Mr. P excitedly quacks and flaps his wings, then feels embarrassed when the performers notice him. He exits but is greeted by Mrs. P’s cacophonous quacking: The newly hatched ducklings, tumbling from the flower box onto the street, must be led to the water, pronto! Mr. P, having learned something about stagecraft, shouts, “Places, everyone!” The ducklings form their own perfect “chorus line,” and the musicians play a marching tune. Indeed, all the performers, as well as various townsfolk, join the parade as the ducklings follow their parents into the water, to a rousing ovation. Bravo to this sweet, gently humorous tale. Readers will be captivated by and root for the protagonists and appreciate the theater setting and denouement. The colorful digital illustrations incorporate lively onomatopoeic words. Human characters are diverse.
Adorable, enchanting, and very ducky indeed. (authors’ note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780316283083
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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