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PRESCHOOL
Park, Linda Sue

Gurple and Preen: A Broken Crayon Cosmic Adventure

48 pp. | Simon | August, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5344-3141-6 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-5344-3142-3 $10.99
(2) PS Illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Gurple (a gangly purple robot with green appendages) and Preen (a diminutive green robot with some neat purple accessories) have crash-landed on an alien planet. Their cargo--a bunch of brand-new crayons--has scattered everywhere, and the robots must retrieve it all. The crayons are actually containers; it's not until breaking them that the robots (and we) can see what's inside. Gurple is perplexed and frustrated ("a TABLECLOTH? What are we supposed to do with that?"); Preen (who communicates in beeps) thoughtfully gets to work repairing the ship. Finally, the mission's commander is released from her crayon, and after being brought up to speed, the explorers are on their way, blasting back off into outer space. The last page brings us down to Earth, as the "commander" is revealed to be a little girl in her bedroom, surrounded by robot toys, crayons, and space-and-science paraphernalia--gazing out her bedroom window at the night sky. In the category of they-were-toys-all-along picture books, this one stands out, as the child's imagined scenarios--and Park's and Ohi's storytelling--are particularly creative and freewheeling. The dialogue, especially Gurple's interjections ("Zap my apps!" "Bits and bytes!"), is bright and witty, as are the digital crayon-box illustrations with lots of dimension and plenty to look at--and starring an endearing android odd-couple pair.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

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