Among librarians, speculation about potential Newbery and Caldecott winners begins almost as soon as last year's winners are announced. This year, Brian Wildsmith's Jungle Party is already getting long looks as a potential Caldecott winner. Wildsmith, a well-beloved and much-honored author and illustrator has outdone himself in Jungle Party, the story of a crafty python who invites all the animals to a party so he can swallow them in due course. Wildsmith has an extraordinary gift of being able to combine brilliant and subtle colors to ravishing effect. As the animals do tricks to amaze their fellows, the quirky combinations of a dun-colored lion and a purplish-owl with red wings; or of a dusty gnu and two acrobatic guinea fowl are both novel and satisfying. Though python's evil trick works, along comes elephant to save the day. A fine introduction to art and animals for young children.
There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...
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