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Stadler, John
6 Reviews
(4)
K-3
Rabbit Wilson, who adores his teacher, Miss Lovely, goes to school on a Saturday, unaware that it's a day off. Meanwhile, as Wilson puzzles over the building's emptiness, readers lift half-page flaps to reveal a green dragon lurking in the corridors. What the book lacks in visual command (the cartoony illustrations aren't noteworthy) it makes up for with its surprise-twist ending.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Around the campfire, a cowboy sings about Wilbur Little--"the weirdest cowboy / That ever hit the trail." Wilbur joins up with a blue moose to herd pigs out West. They have a passel of adventures, all told in verse that can be hard to follow. Stadler has a strong sense of the absurd, and his loose cartoons suit the foolishness.
Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth
(3)
PS
A mouse master of ceremonies introduces readers to the amazing Ellie, a huge--or is she?--elephant. The two are never pictured together: he's depicted on flaps with a glass of water into which Ellie will dive; lifting the flaps reveals Ellie atop a ladder preparing to jump. Readers will be tickled by the way the ending turns their expectations upside down.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Catilda the cat leaves her bed, hops aboard a red bird, and employs other drastic means to search for her lost teddy bear. While the uncluttered watercolors show her perilous adventure, the text consists of her parents' anxious dialogue about whether to check on her. The simultaneous stories may be confusing to some, but the juxtaposition of the parents' pragmatism with Catilda's fantastic journey is entertaining.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
The title question becomes the refrain as cartoon-style animals--some from other books--come to celebrate Dog's birthday with a sleepover. Instead, they're self-referentially pursued through the pages by an artist whose spilled paint threatens to engulf them, until THE END, when Dog draws a bed for their safe harbor. Although the device is forced at times, it's generally funny; the animals' antics are amusingly pictured.
Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian
(3)
K-3
A boy alone on the beach loses his kite. First a seal, then representatives of nearly every animal species show up and, wordlessly, create an unlikely animal pyramid that makes possible the kite's retrieval. The premise, surprise ending (the kite escapes again), droll text ("All agreed that they must get together soon and do it again"), and cartoony watercolor illustrations all succeed.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
6 reviews
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