Review by Booklist Review
PreS.^-Gr. 2. "Which would you rather be?" a wand-wielding rabbit asks a boy and girl as he pulls a series of choices from tall silk hat. Bliss' pictures, facing the text, present the options and invest Steig's simple words with wit and a sense of story, as when the kids, offered a choice between being an elbow or a knee, watch as a circus strong man squeezes out of the hat--elbows pointed outward, a knee touched by the rabbit's magic wand. When the choice is between being a snake or a crocodile, the kids and the rabbit make hasty exits. Who can blame them? The croc emerging from the hat sure looks hungry! There are 10 choices, though some are represented only by words, and the kids actually reply to only three. That leaves lots of room for eager readers and listeners to respond on their own, and, like the kids in the book, to think about some of the more difficult options: "Which would you rather be? A boy or a girl?" "Alone or together?" No pondering is necessary, however, to know that together Steig's words and Bliss' pictures make a winning choice. --Michael Cart
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this wonderfully economical exercise, a shrewd question-and-answer format harmonizes with fine-tuned images. On almost every page, a big gray rabbit faces two children across an upside-down top hat. The rabbit is matter-of-fact, not cute. Voice bubbles contain its deadpan questions ("Which would you rather be?/ A stick/ or a stone?/ A cat/ or a dog?"), as each possibility emerges from the hat and the children react with a word or a gesture. When the dog chases the cat, the girl shoots an irritated look at her laughing friend, who shouts, "A dog!" As a hockey player crawls from the hat ("A boy"), the displeased girl crosses her arms. Her scowl turns to a competitive smirk when the next question ("or a girl?") suggests the skater could be female. After "an elephant" fills the page, only the boy's departing foot can be seen as the children retreat; when "a crocodile" lunges out, a well-placed voice bubble and the croc's gaze indicate that all three players have exited stage right. Bliss (illus. of A Fine, Fine School) composes his wry illustrations on a blank white ground in the fluid style of Charles M. Schulz or Crockett Johnson, and he loads his characters' every movement with subtle meaning. As in his Pete's a Pizza, Steig provides many more options than hard-and-fast rules, leaving the continuation of this game to the bemused audience. Ages 3-7. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Throughout this picture book, a young girl and boy sit cross-legged around a top hat while a magic-wand-wielding gray rabbit asks: "Which would you rather be?" Some of the choices are a stick or a stone, a mouse or an elephant, an elbow or a knee, and all of the possibilities emerge, one at a time, from the hat. For the most part, the children don't answer; occasionally they do, or seem to. For example, in the cat versus dog dilemma, the girl smiles and reaches toward the feline, while the boy's body language and the accompanying text say, "A dog!" Later, both children agree that being a kid is favorable to being a grown-up. Bliss's big, bold, full-color illustrations against a white background carry the story line, since the minimal text appears in dialogue balloons. Children will enjoy imagining and formulating their own responses to the prompts.-Carol L. MacKay, Camrose Public Library, Alberta, Canada (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A rabbit asks a boy and girl the title question while pulling a variety of objects out of a hat. For the most part, the children make no response, choosing only to be a dog rather than a cat, a kid rather than a grownup, and, judging from their joint exit at the end, together rather than alone. While the book seems to have little point, the illustrations, which create a stage-like setting, are arresting. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
One New Yorker cartoonist gives a younger (of course, Methuselah would be younger) one a chance to show his chops. And the chops are considerable. With an interrogatory text running to just a few words per page, readers are asked in dialogue balloons whether they'd prefer to be a stick or a stone, an elbow or a knee, rain or snow, thunder or lightning, and so on. Bliss (A Fine, Fine School, 2001, etc.) reduces the actors in his painted scenes to a bare minimum-a magic hat, from which a plush rabbit with a wand conjures each alternative, and a boy and a girl wordlessly (until the end) reacting to their choices. Each form, each change of expression, is modeled with both spirit and exquisite skill, in subtle gradations of light and color. The final query, "Would you rather be alone . . . or together?" leaves the children undecided-an open invitation to readers to ponder this life-shaping choice. This thoughtful, though less gleefully silly, alternative to John Burningham's classic Would You Rather? (1978) showcases an up-and-coming illustrator with plenty of promise. (Picture book. 5-9)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
