Scribble
Kindergarten-Grade 2—When Emma insults her younger sister's cat drawing by calling it a scribble, Lucie retaliates by drawing all over the older girl's picture of a sleeping princess. So begins the tale as Lucie follows Scribble Cat into Emma's drawing in search of the beautiful princess who is now obscured behind a tangled bramble of scribbles. After much difficulty, the lines are rolled into a ball and Scribble Cat awakens the sleeping princess with a kiss. Despite Emma's protestations that a kitty and a princess can't get married, they do anyway and live happily ever after. This fresh and imaginative story-within-a-story perfectly captures the logic and tone of children's dialogue, especially two arguing siblings. But the text is only half of the story. Freedman combines two wildly different drawing styles to great effect as she takes readers between reality and her characters' artwork. Her "real world" illustrations are reminiscent of Maurice Sendak's work complete with speech bubbles. The artist's attention to detail is excellent, making it easy to see that Lucie is sorry about ruining Emma's picture without a word being uttered. The amusing antics of Scribble Cat, who looks as though he's been drawn by a preschooler, come alive for readers. Having Lucie's real-world kitty join her in drawings adds another layer of entertainment. A fun and imaginative romp.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.