Review by New York Times Review
Music is the food of love for Herman, a crocodile who plays oboe, and his neighbor Rosie, a doe who sings jazz at the Mangy Hound. The two lead parallel lives, enjoying bits of each other's music as it wafts through the night air until at last they meet on a Manhattan rooftop. Gordon, an Australian, sets his charmingly illustrated story in the present day, adding texture and history with old maps and newspaper clippings. FROG TROUBLE Deluxe Songbook. Written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton. 68 pp. Workman. $16.95. (Picture book and CD; ages 3 to 8) You might have been so distracted by Boynton's prolific literary production that you missed her musical endeavors, which include an album of plainchant and polyphony in Latin and pig Latin. In "Frog Trouble," she illustrates 12 witty children's country songs with pictures of the adorably smiley animals who ostensibly sing them. The real singers, who can be heard on the accompanying CD, include Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam and Fountains of Wayne. NEVER PLAY MUSIC RIGHT NEXT TO THE ZOO By John Lithgow. Illustrated by Leeza Hernandez. 40 pp. Simon & Schuster. $17.99. (Picture book and CD; ages 3 to 8) It's not every day that you see an elegant gray-haired lady fending off an encroaching bear with her flute. But in Lithgow's zany and toe-tapping song, illustrated with comic abandon by Hernandez, all sorts of unexpected things happen when a boy and his family attend an outdoor concert at a city zoo. Though the boy nods off, the animals are so excited by what they hear they storm the stage and take over the instruments. WHY DO I SING? Animal Songs of the Pacific Northwest. By Jennifer Blomgren. Illustrated by Andrea Gabriel. 32 pp. Sasquatch. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8) Humans aren't the only creatures with the urge to sing. Blomgren describes the wild songs of marmots, fin whales, meadowlarks, loons and others, imagining what might compel them. Of the starfish, she writes delicately: "They just might be singing a song we can't know. / We don't see or hear the world the same way / As so many living things near us each day." Gabriel's big, rough-textured watercolors give a good sense of the particular beauty of the region. WHEN THE BEAT WAS BORN: DJ Kool Here and the Creation of Hip Hop. By Laban Carrick Hill. Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III. 32 pp. Roaring Brook. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 6 to 9) "Hip hip hop. Hippity hop." Clive first hears that rhythm booming from a neighbor's house in Jamaica, and when he moves to New York City at the age of 13, he takes the sound with him. Known as Hercules because of his height, Clive begins D. J.-ing in the Bronx after his father brings home a set of six-foot speakers. Hill tells the story of the birth of hip-hop with his own catchy rhythm, and Taylor's illustrations bring out the enthusiasm and sense of community at the heart of this trend-setting sound. ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 22, 2013]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* There are so many great New York love stories, and here's another. Herman, who just happens to be a crocodile, is an oboe player (the instrument fits nicely under his enormous teeth). He lives in a tiny apartment, loves boysenberry yogurt, and likes watching films about the ocean. Rosie, of the deer persuasion, enjoys toffee that sticks to your teeth, jazz singing, and also watching ocean-themed films. Never the twain shall meet, until Herman loses his job selling things, and Rosie's jazz club closes down due to poor attendance. When each comes out of a depression, Herman picks up the oboe, and Rosie finds herself drawn across rooftops towards its groovy tune. Soon the lonely city is lonely no more as they make sweet, sweet music together. This Australian picture book doesn't skimp on fantastic details: Rosie's club is called The Mangy Hound; Herman's call center is inhabited by boars, giraffes, and owls; and Grandma Herman's photo sits framed on the bureau. Gordon's heavily lined characters and collage backgrounds give rise to the vibrant Big Apple, populated by all species and anchored by two endearing artistic types. The illustrations include scenes depicted on postcards as the duo moves around the city, maps of their wanderings, and even a page comprised entirely of neon signs (Dancing Hamsters) that light up the night sky. Not since Petra Mathers' Sophie and Lou (1991) has a picture book, the arts, and romance converged so charmingly.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
While the title makes it sound like they're a couple, Australian author/illustrator Gordon's crocodile hero and deerlike heroine remain unknown to one another until the penultimate spread, even though they live in adjacent buildings and have important things in common: a love of music (oboe for him, jazz singing for her) and "watching films about the ocean." But that's life in the big city-New York City, in particular, which Gordon brings alive through lyrical drawings and inventive collage. His soul-mate characters are equally terrific: two sweet but lonely souls (think Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine-or maybe it's Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan) who live in tiny apartments and eke out a living while keeping their wistful chins up. If it sounds too sophisticated for the target audience, rest assured it isn't (although some may grow anxious when both characters lose their jobs). Readers of all ages will fall for Herman and Rosie from the start, and Gordon knows how to keep the dramatic and romantic tension just taut enough to keep the pages turning toward their inevitable meeting. Ages 7-10. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Herman Schubert loves to play the oboe and Rosie Bloom sings, but when they lose their jobs, "everything [falls] out of tune"-until they happen to meet. There is, of course, nothing wrong with a picture book in which the illustrations are best appreciated by adults who like vintage postcards, the inventive use of collage materials, and a plethora of visual gags. But when such artwork is coupled with a story about the genesis of friendship between two adult neighbors in New York City, one has to wonder to whom the effort is truly pitched. Merely portraying the major characters as an alligator and an antelope (or maybe she's a deer?) does not ensure child appeal. A working knowledge of the lives of office workers and jazz singers in New York might provide an entree for some children, but that's still a fairly narrow subset of potential readers.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2013. 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
In New York City, neighbors Herman (a crocodile) and Rosie (a deer) work boring day jobs but express their true talents at night as a musician and singer. Their disenchantment and the series of romantic comedystyle near-misses that stall their meeting will charm adults more than kids. Mixed-media illustrations combine city maps and postcards with quirky drawings of the menagerie of city dwellers. (c) Copyright 2014. 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
In bustling New York, anthropomorphic croc Herman and Rosie (a goat?) inhabit parallel lives until they discover they're soul mates. They live in tiny apartments in adjacent buildings. Herman plays oboe and sells "things" in a call center--until he's canned for not selling enough of them. Rosie's a restaurant dishwasher who takes singing lessons and gigs at a jazz club on Thursdays--until it's shuttered. In pictures and text, Gordon cleverly foretells the pair's entwined destiny, engaging readers conspiratorially as Herman and Rosie continually almost connect. Each, hearing the other's music by chance, is mesmerized for days. Both love "watching films about the ocean" and turn to Cousteau documentaries for solace after their twin career setbacks. Traipsing the city (Gordon provides a map and key for their concurrent rambles), they simultaneously buy hot dogs from the same vendor--without meeting. Finally, Rosie hears "the familiar sounds of a groovy little jazz number" and leaps "to follow that tune." The penultimate double-page spread shows them meeting--at last!--on Herman's roof against a luminous full moon. The final page shows they've formed a quartet--The Cousteaus. Gordon utilizes vintage postcards, ledgers and maps to create collaged tableaux. Evocative of William Steig and Bernard Waber, the pictures at their best juxtapose New York's duality: its cacophonous enormity and charming intimacy. Sweetly celebrates artistic bonding in the Big Apple. (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
