Otto Grows Down
Otto is not happy about the arrival of his baby sister. At his sixth birthday party, he blows out the candles and wishes that Anna had never been born. Sure enough, time starts moving backward, and before long, his parents are heading to the hospital (happily, the scene of Anna being returned from whence she came isn’t depicted). Soon, however, Otto is regretting his wish, as he unpaints his drawing paper, brings the garbage inside on trash day, and finds “going to the bathroom . . . downright disgusting.” (This is demurely depicted with Otto on the toilet seat. Horrified.) Worst of all, however, is watching his birthdays roll back until he is just a baby. At the last possible moment, Otto figures out how to restart the clock. There’s lots of fun to be had with this Benjamin Button–like concept, and both words and pictures do a good job of mining it. The pen-and-paint artwork, with its bigheaded characters and use of strong shapes and colors, is eye-catching, while the be-careful-what-you-wish-for message comes through loud and clear. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper