Review by Booklist Review
Against a plain white background, Sam draws with chalk and Eva paints. Eva wants to collaborate, but Sam says no. The children's creations, however, have their own ideas. Sam's velociraptor decides to snack on Eva's marmot. Larger friends join each drawing. As the art becomes more complex, Sam and Eva take control of the printed text, crossing words out and rewriting each other's actions. Eva, who appears to be Asian, and Sam, who's black, are rendered in black, white, and brownish-gray tones, but their artwork is in full color, expanding and flowing over the white space as the action intensifies. The digitally composed illustrations allow for visual differences between Sam's and Eva's artistic designs. When Eva exits, Sam feels overwhelmed and attacked by the images, but she decides to help at the last minute, drawing a small door through which they both escape. Teamwork saves the day, at least for now, but a new drawing begins on the last page. Funny and imaginative, the story offers ideas for discussion about cooperation and problem solving.--Whitehurst, Lucinda Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ohi (Where Are My Books?) celebrates creativity and cooperation in this story of two young artists, Sam and Eva, who don't see eye to eye (they can't even agree on a medium-she uses paint, he prefers chalk). "I like your pony," Eva says, walking onto the scene as Sam is seen drawing on a blank, white wall. "It's a velociraptor," Sam replies tersely. Thus begins a series of assumptions and disagreements that escalate as their drawings spring to life and do battle: Eva's orange marmot is revealed to be a secret superhero, Sam's raptor shoots lightning from his eyes, pianos fall, confetti explodes, and Eva stomps off, tired of fighting for control over the story unfolding in their artwork. Ohi paints the children in grayscale, letting the vivid, colorful chaos of their mural-in-progress reflect the intensity of their feelings and the wildness of their imaginations. Eventually the two reconcile, and although the final pages tease another potential argument, readers will finish the book confident that these two will work through their creative differences once again. Ages 4-8. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Sam and Eva are friends who a penchant for drawing. Eva drops by one day as Sam is working on a drawing, and mayhem ensues when the girl decides to turn it into a group project. "'I like your pony,' Eva said. 'It's a velociraptor,' said Sam." When she suggests some changes, Sam quickly erases her efforts, so she begins to add something else. "'Who said you could add a cat?' asked Sam. 'It's not a cat.' Eva said, 'It's a marmot.''' When it turns out that Sam's velociraptor is hungry and begins eyeing the marmot, Eva quickly draws a larger creature. Sam retaliates with an even larger creature, and things head south as Sam and Eva both become annoyed. Eva walks off in a huff, declaring "I don't like this story anymore.'" Sam tries to continue drawing, but the artwork takes on a life of its own as both sides of the creation attempt to outshine the other. Eva realizes that the time has come to start a new story, and she quickly draws an exit strategy for her and Sam: a small door, where they scoot through the cacophony of color to emerge on the other side of a plain white page and begin a new collaboration. "'I like your unicorn,' said Sam. 'It's a triceratops,' said Eva." Clever use of digital art showcases Eva and Sam in grayscale against white pages, which allows their colorful artwork to pop off the page in this homage to creativity and working together. VERDICT Fans of Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon and the more recent trilogy of Journey, Return, and Quest by Aaron Becker will appreciate this tale of artistic identity. Fun to read aloud or share with a small group.-Lisa Kropp, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY © Copyright 2017. 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
Creative differences lead to clashes in this metafictive story about two artistic kids, Sam and Eva, whose pictures take on a life of their own. Throughout, the childrens drawings are rendered in a naive style that emulates kids art-making, while Sam and Eva themselves are depicted in a more realistic (albeit flat) cartoon style. The story begins when Eva encounters Sam drawing what she thinks is a pony on the open, white background space that dominates beginning spreads. With not a little disdain communicated through his body language and curt response, Sam corrects her: Its a velociraptor. Eva persists in trying to engage him, however, adding orange ears to the green velociraptor, but Sam erases them with a cloth. Determined, Eva draws her own creature and thus instigates a drawing duel in which its soon apparent that the pictures she and Sam make are acting out their creators emotions. The pictures fill more and more space, with their inhabitants attacking each other to humorous effect: exploding confetti, eyes that shoot lightning, and so on. But eventually, the sentient drawings high jinks overwhelm Sam and Eva, who (in a nod to Harold and his purple crayon) draw a doorway to escape into another place with a pristine white background ready for their new drawings. And this time? They happily draw together. megan dowd lambert (c) Copyright 2017. 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
A power tussle between two kids plays out through mischievous drawings."Sam had just begun to draw when Eva arrived." Sam looks surprised to see Eva appear; Eva smiles broadly. Eva compliments Sam's pony, sketched in a few green lines; "It's a velociraptor," corrects Sam, unthrilled. Eva "suggest[s] a collaboration" by adding to Sam's drawing without permission; Sam "decline[s]" by smudging out Eva's work with a rag. Their canvas is the blank white wall of whatever room they're in; Eva paints on it, Sam draws on it. They seesaw control over the mural's content: Sam's giant piano falls from the sky to squash Eva's creatures; Eva changes the piano into confetti and makes it tickle the creatures instead of squashing them. Eva, metafictively, paints over the text's descriptions and rewords them to match her newest drawing. Ohi's illustrations are digital. The childlike drawings on the wall are in color but bland; however, the kids themselves, rendered in black and white, sparkle. Eva, who's Asian, and Sam, who's black, are full of movement, their postures and facial expressions different on every spread. When their mural becomes frantic and out of hand, the kids escape in a way that Crockett Johnson's Harold would be proud of. Expressive, high-spirited one-upkidship via artwork on wallsthere's nothing wrong with that. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
