Anton and the Battle
With hilarious, playful standoffs, young Anton and Luke compete over who is stronger, bigger, faster, and louder. The competition becomes more fierce until Luke threatens to “drop a bomb.” Anton responds by threatening Luke with a bigger bomb. Then, in a wry turnaround, a friendly puppy woofs at the two belligerent fighters, and they both scurry up a tree in fear. But the little dog will not go away. Now the boys’ competition is about who is hungrier and how much they could eat and drink, until finally they race home. Who is fastest? One of the runners? Or the friendly puppy chasing them? Translated from German, this title features universal scenarios, and the spare ink-and-watercolor scenes, shown against spacious cream-colored pages, focus on the boys—their eye-to-eye triumphs and put-downs. Kids will recognize the battleground games they know so well. Preschool-Grade 1. --Hazel Rochman