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PRESCHOOL
Dubuc, Marianne

Little Cheetah's Shadow

32 pp. | Princeton Architectural Press | April, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-61689-840-3 $17.95
(2) PS Little Cheetah looks under his couch with a flashlight before leaving home (trusty flashlight still in hand) to continue his search: "Little Cheetah had lost something." The "something" is his shadow. Little Shadow has run away because he's unhappy that Little ­Cheetah always takes the lead, chooses their destinations, and (inadvertently) catches Little Shadow's tail in closing doors. Little Cheetah feels badly and offers to let Little Shadow go first to the bakery, where Little Cheetah's tail accidentally gets caught in the door, a turn of events that helps the two better understand each other. On their walk home--­side-by-side this time--they reach a tunnel. "In the dark, I disappear!" says a frightened Little Shadow, but Little Cheetah turns on his flashlight, tells his friend to "stay close....don't let go"--and "together, they faced the dark." Back home, at bedtime, Little Cheetah ­lovingly leaves a light on for Little Shadow. Dubuc's (Otto and Pio, rev. 5/19) ­seemingly straightforward friendship tale also serves as a simplified introduction to the scientific concept of shadows. And the issues Little Cheetah and Little Shadow encounter (taking turns, being considerate, empathizing with someone else, and a fear of the dark) should resonate with preschoolers. Dubuc's pastel-hued colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations contain clever details (gray Little Shadow's semi-transparency; a ­picture in the house of Little Cheetah first without, and then with, Little Shadow), plenty of white space for ­parsing the plot, and near-constant ­forward movement to carry readers through this sweet story.
Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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