Waking Up Wendell
Starred Review.Stevens, author of a novel for adults (Angel, Angel), endows her imaginative debut picture book with well-developed characters, plenty of noise and enough humor to keep readers wanting more. Beginning with the ta-ta-ta tweeeeeet! of a small bird, sounds travel from one house to the next, awakening the porcine denizens of Fish Street in a domino effect. The bird rouses Mr. Krudwig at #2 Fish Street, his dog Leopold disturbs Mrs. Musky at #3 Fish Street, and her whistling teapot flusters the tardy kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Depolo at #4 Fish Street, and so on. Hills's (Duck & Goose) witty watercolors depict action and facial expressions with equal ease, and they target both children's and adults' sensibilities. For the seven Darjeelings, who sleep together in a huge bed and whose cat wakes them by repeatedly slamming the screen door, he offers a frontal view of the glassy-eyed family, all with identical helpless stares; their nightstand contains the booksWhose Bed Is It Anyway?andTrain Your Cat. Especially delicious is his characterization of Mrs. Depolo as she literally throws on her clothes, races down her stairs, and dives out the door. The story could easily do double-duty as a counting book, and with its punchy prose, unexpected plot turns and surprisingly sweet ending, it's a cinch for a read-aloud treat. Ages 4-8.(Sept.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.