Red Wagon by Renata Liwska (Philomel/Penguin, $16.99, 9780399252372, 32 pp., ages 3-5, February 17, 2011)
A trip to the market with the titular Red Wagon in tow becomes a flight of fancy thanks to Renata Liwska's
(Little Panda) visually imaginative
illustrations for her playfully tongue-in-cheek text. When Lucy, a small red
fox with a bow on her head, asks her mother if she can play with her "brand-new
little red wagon," her mother responds, "Sure, you can use your wagon
to go to the market." What at first seems like a chore to Lucy quickly gives
way to an adventure. Her squirrel and porcupine friends hop in ("It was
pretty heavy"), and when it starts to rain, the horizon line tilts and
empties into a roaring ocean. The humor arises from a narrative that plays
straight man. "By the time she got to the bottom, it was really coming
down!" says the text, while the red wagon serves as a hull for a sailing
vessel. Lucy and her crew attempt to rescue a raccoon with a hook for its left
paw, floating in an umbrella with a skull-and-crossbones flag affixed to the
handle. A covered (red) wagon takes them on the next leg of their journey (10-gallon
hats, a sheriff's badge and bandannas complete the picture), and when "at
last, Lucy arrived at the market!" the covered stalls look suspiciously
like circus tents (with fruits and vegetables to be juggled and spun). Even
though Lucy is too tuckered out to "play" when she gets home with all
the items on her list, youngsters know that this little fox made the most of
her errand. Pure delight.
---
The Loud Book by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $12.99, 9780547390086, 32 pp., age 4-8, April 2011)
In Deborah Underwood and Liwska's answer to last year's The Quiet Book, which won the 2010 Gold
Medal from the Society of Illustrators,
the creators set up a thrilling contrast, beginning with the exclamatory cover
of The LOUD Book! Purple type
reverberates against a yellow background as the cast of characters who signaled
"shhhh" on the soothingly aqua-toned cover of Quiet here clash symbols, blow whistles and shake maracas. Just as
Underwood described the wide array of quiet situations in the first
collaboration, she now explores the different kinds of "LOUD" in a
child's world for this companion title. The bunny who began the first book with
"first one awake quiet," now starts the day with "ALARM CLOCK
LOUD," in all capital letters, with a pillow not quite covering its
overlarge bunny ears. The picture book ends with the bunny camping out at
bedtime, kept awake by "COLLAPSING TENT LOUD," "SNORING SISTER
LOUD" and, even away from the campsite, "CRICKETS LOUD,"
wide-eyed under a sliver moon. Aunt Tilly and her iguana make another
appearance, and Liwska plays with perspective for "FIRE TRUCK DAY AT
SCHOOL LOUD," with the bunny, moose, bear cub, mouse and bee thrust way up
in the air at the tip top of the fire truck's ladder. Underwood and Liwska get
to the heart of a child's experiences, and invite children to look at their
daily routines in a brand-new way.--Jennifer M. Brown