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The Panda Problem

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The Panda Problem
By Deborah Underwood
Illustrated by Hannah Marks

Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Young Readers Group, 2019. Picture Book. In this latest edition of the narrator interacting with the characters inside a book a narrator grapples with the fact that Panda isn’t very cooperative when it comes to telling a story. First of all Panda doesn’t really have any problems (but stories always have problems) so Panda decides to become the narrator’s problem. This is a clever look at how stories work as well as who is really in control—the narrator or the characters in the story. Plus throw in jelly beans, aliens, and a trip to Antarctica and you have one very large panda-sized problem for this flustered narrator. Very clever!
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