The Top 5 Animal Children's Books of 1999
© Arden Davidson
One Monkey Too Many, written by Jackie Koller French and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, is a playful little tale that warns against the dangers of loading too many monkeys into a golf cart, canoe, or hotel bed, and finally, into the picture book itself. Both the story and the illustrations are creative and amusing...and the monkeys are absolutely adorable!
A host of traditional children's stories have already proven that wolves and pigs make great primary characters. Swine Lake, by the late James Marshall (with the help of Maurice Sendak), is no exception. To give you an idea of the tone of the story, without giving too much away, the story starts by introducing a hungry wolf who finds out that a production of "Swine Lake" is about to take place at the "New Hamsterdam theater", which, of course, makes him even hungrier. This is a truly delightful book for children of all ages. Beetle Boy by Lawrence David (Illustrated by Delphine Durand) "stars" a 2nd grader named Gregory Sampson who wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed into a beetle. (That's a beetle, not a Beatle like Paul or Ringo). Strangely enough, no one but him seems to notice. Kids will love this bizarre yet enlightening journey fo discovery while getting quite a kick out of Gregory's antics.
What's a puppy's mother to do when she tell her son that "Cats go meow. Dogs go arf. Now, bark, George." and all he can do is oink and moo? This is the problem George's mother faces in "Bark, Geroge" by Jules Feiffer. Though simply drawn, George is irresistably cute and the story is delightfully strange. rendered irresistible by the cartoonist Jules Feiffer'
Ice Cream Larry by Jill and Daniel Pinkwater is my final choice. Larry is a polar bear who falls asleep on a floating chunk of ice and winds up in New Jersey. To support his blueberry muffin habit, he becomes a lifeguard. The converstational style of the text along with the dry humor seen throughout the illustrations will delight both young and old.
They're Grrrreat!!
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