Kirk's illustrations also reflect his creative experience as a toy maker. ''Rolie Polie Olie,'' by William Joyce, is a whole other computer palette. Thematically it resides in a similar retro-world, but the Rolie Polie universe, vibrantly colored, round, curved and extremely cute, has been captured in such a way that a character may be in sharp focus in the foreground, while the trees in the background are not, as though they were captured by a long lens. These innovative graphic images have the properties of photographs. The story, like its setting, is very 1950's. Rolie Polie Olie rolls out of bed, brushes his teeth and plugs in his head.
Dancing is a recurrent theme in Joyce's books.
Later there's a little mischief, and eventually Olie settles down at bedtime. The computer art here is impressive. Even though the characters are simple round shapes, they catch the light wonderfully. Their faces are simple, not more than a couple of dots and some lines. One can only wonder what the book would have looked like using the original paintings.