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PICTURE BOOKS
Pumphrey, Jarrett , Pumphrey, Jerome

Somewhere in the Bayou

56 pp. | Norton | March, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-1-324-01593-2 $17.95 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-324-01594-9 $17.95
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey & Jerome Pumphrey. The Pumphrey brothers employ understated storytelling, wry humor, and skillful cartooning throughout this entertaining original fable. The premise is simple. Four bayou critters (an opossum, a squirrel, a rabbit, and a mouse) are attempting to cross a river when they happen upon a mysterious green tail. The opossum, squirrel, and rabbit each makes a different, uninformed assumption about the tail (respectively declaring it "sneaky," "scary," and "mean"), but all three share the same fate: a scaly "SMACK" into the river. Only the mouse seeks out more information, discovering that the tail is tied to a log. Evoking heroic mice from folklore, the mouse frees the stranger (unsurprisingly revealed to be an alligator) with a few nibbles. An amusing tension builds when the alligator offers the mouse a ride across the river, leading to the conclusion: "I think we've become friends. And friends don't eat friends. Besides...I ate some strangers earlier." Pitch-perfect pacing develops a repetitive rhythm reminiscent of oral storytelling, while, in the illustrations, subtle variations in body language, eye position, and panel size/shape provide meaningful subtext. The earthy palette and block-print imagery are graphically grounded, while conveying plenty of textural nuance and depth through subtle layering. Both a cautionary tale and a thrilling romp, this surefire read-aloud will be embraced especially by fans of Klassen's celebrated hat trilogy.
Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

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