Review by New York Times Review
"LITTLE BUNNY ON THE MOVE," Peter McCarty's first picture book, from 1999, was a tale of a single-minded bunny who lets nothing stall him on the way to his mysterious destination. The story's spare, insistent prose and the illustrations, evoking a surreal pastoral, build a delicious suspense. It offers a lovely metaphor for holding to one's inner vision in spite of naysayers and obstacles, and like all McCarty's stories shows fidelity to the emotions of young children. In "Hondo & Fabian," which won a Caldecott Honor in 2003, another important theme emerges: the primacy of friendship. Hondo, a lumbering Labrador, and a tetchy house cat named Fabian live together like a companionable married couple, contentedly anchored by their daily routine - sleeping, eating, playing, eating and sleeping some more - in their neighborhood nirvana. In a sequel, "Fabian Escapes," the two pets endure the meddling of others until they can be together again. Achieving that kind of enviable companionship is the goal of Henry, a lovesick calico cat in "Henry in Love," and Jeremy, a little boy in "Jeremy Draws a Monster," McCarty's latest picture books. In the laboratory of first love, the classroom, Henry has discovered his ideal: a winsome bunny named Chloe. He spends his class time hovering and yearning. The world depicted in McCarty's tender, amusing valentine is another homey paradise, his russet inks tinted with deephued watercolors to create an atmosphere of warmth. The day Henry finally makes his move begins with all his reassuring routines; here McCarty acutely delineates how every day is a lifetime for young children, and how the present feels like all there is. Chloe, who is seated in the back row, catches Henry staring at her: "Are you looking at me?" Yes, he is, and his romantic longing is pictured as a sprightly wash of red forget-me-nots whooshing toward her. Finally, Henry approaches her at recess, and the chase is on. How does a boy win a girl? By impressing her, of course, so Henry does his best forward roll. Impressive, though not nearly as impressive as Chloe's cartwheel. While playing tag, she nimbly outmaneu vers him again: "You will never catch me!" she proclaims from atop a jungle gym. All seems lost until serendipity gives Henry one more chance. At break time, Chloe asks to see what he brought for snack. He shows her his blueberry muffin, and she takes it as an offering. Contact made! This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. FRIENDSHIP is all Jeremy wishes for as he gazes out his window at a group of kids playing. There's no suburban nirvana in "Jeremy Draws a Monster." In the sharp-edged ink and watercolor illustrations, Jeremy's red-bricked apartment building is a fortress of urban solitude, the stark white of the paper reinforcing Jeremy's arctic isolation. His only companions are his drawings. "Most of my childhood was spent in my head," McCarty has said, and you think of that as you spy rough sketches of Fabian, Hondo and a familiar bunny hanging in Jeremy's bedroom. (The endpapers feature a harried-looking adult McCarty carrying a bag of groceries, his sightline awhirl with preliminary sketches of characters.) On an especially lonesome day, Jeremy takes out his fanciest pen and draws like a fiend, and that's what he gets - a monstrous blue fiend (who brings to mind an amalgam of Zero Mostel and a Blue Meante from "Yellow Submarine"). The monster demands that Jeremy draw him a sandwich, record player, television, telephone and finally a red top hat, for he is going out. Exhausted after all that, Jeremy hopes his monstrous creation is gone for good. Not a chance. Literary creations have a life of their own (as Arthur Conan Doyle, who attempted to get rid of Sherlock Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls, learned; "justifiable homicide," he claimed, but he was forced by infuriated readers to resurrect his beloved character). After his evening out, the monster returns like the nightmare he is and takes over Jeremy's bed. The sleepless night, however, gives Jeremy plenty of time to create a solution. He draws a one-way bus ticket out of town and a suitcase, and the monster, like the bad guy in a western, is forced to pack up and leave. Tired of having only imaginary companions, Jeremy seeks out real friends, in this marvelous and comic tale of the consolations and limits of our imaginations. Sherie Posesorski is the author of a young adult novel, "Shadow Boxing."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [February 14, 2010]
Review by Booklist Review
This slight story begins with a young cat, Henry, who wakes and dresses, walks to school with his brother and best friend, and then spends the rest of the day obsessing about, and wooing, Chloe, an adorable young rabbit. A textbook Romeo, Henry shows off his athletic ability, chases Chloe around the playground, and sacrifices his eagerly anticipated blueberry muffin snack for his beloved. Many boys will find this as unappealing as kissing (Henry doesn't manage to seal that deal), although a brief football scene provides some distractions from the romance. In addition, the quiet story may prove too subtle for its intended audience. Still, McCarty's delicately detailed ink-and-watercolor illustrations of anthropomorphized animals, set on open, creamy pages, are delightful, and children will recognize Henry's happy surprise when an unexceptional day turns suddenly into an exceptional one.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Henry the cat is in love with Chloe, the cute little bunny in the back row. On this particular day, his mother makes blueberry muffins for her sons to take for lunch, but Henry saves his for afternoon snack as a special treat. He is the typical little boy who is short on words but big on action. He does a forward roll to impress Chloe, but she bests him with an impressive cartwheel. Later, the teacher reassigns seats and Chloe moves up next to Henry. At snack time, she asks him what he has, and he shows her his big, beautiful blueberry muffin. Henry, who has yet to say a word to his favorite little girl, is surprised but pleased when Chloe thanks him and takes it. It seems that all is fair in love and kindergarten. McCarty's meticulous ink and watercolor art greatly extends the spare, understated text. The exquisite cream-colored pages bring richness to the presentation that makes readers want to turn each page. This beautiful book should appeal to the little ones who have a special someone in their lives but dare not say a word about it.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA (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
Shy cat Henry has a crush on rabbit classmate Chloe and doesn't know what to do about it; a blueberry muffin ultimately helps. McCarty shows genuine respect for children's interpersonal relationships. Not a stroke of his pen is superfluous: delicate ink with modest watercolor shading sits on warm cream-colored pages. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
