Here and there

Owl and Penguin are back with more adventures in this third installment in the graphic readers series. The two friends try making pizza, building snow birds, and going on a hike, with each story focusing on different word pairings: action words, onomatopoeia, and opposites. The dialogue between the two friends consists of picture symbols in word balloons, much as they do in Andy Runton's Owly series, while the narration appears as text boxes in each panel. The simple illustrations, expressive faces, and bright colors help convey meaning to the words used. This series continues to be a terrific example of how the graphic novel format can be used as a tool for new readers.

The latest in the series sees the friends making pizza, playing in the snow, and taking a hike. Pizza-making begins promisingly ("Mix. Roll. Pull"), but tossing the dough brings disaster: "SPLAT." The pair are determined ("Again," "pull"), but alas, the final step is always followed by "STICK," "SPLAT," and "PLOP," whether it's Penguin or Owl throwing the pie to the sky. Draped in dough, they finally have a joint light bulb moment--time for a trip to the pizza parlor to enjoy pies topped with fish and mice. In the second tale, after a snowfall, each friend wants to make a snow-self, but Penguin's creation collapses. Penguin is sad, so Owl nobly repurposes bits of the snow-owl to create a snow-penguin. Penguin thoughtfully adds owl features to one side, so they end up with a bilateral Snow-Owl-Penguin. The final tale, "Hike," is propelled by opposites: far/near, up/down, dark/light, and more. These prepositions barely hint at the drama within the illustrations: The pals fall into a cavern, plummet over a waterfall while rafting, and encounter an angry mama bear. Nevertheless, by sunset the friends are safely home, regaling each other with memories of their exciting day. Madan's exceedingly simple text--often, just a word or two per panel--tells a dynamic story, complemented by enchanting cartoon illustrations of the big-eyed, adorable duo. Another sure-to-please entry in the buddy saga. (instructions for drawing Owl and Penguin) (Graphic easy reader. 5-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.