Artie and Julie
Kindergarten-Grade 2—Artie is a happy little lion, and he's supposed to hunt rabbits. Julie is a happy little rabbit, and she's supposed to avoid lions. Their tedious stories are told simultaneously, on pages that have been cut in half. "Artie's story" fills the top portion of the book, with "Julie's story" below. Each animal dutifully submits to its parent's training until finally, after many grueling lessons, both are ready to set out for the grasslands alone. But they stop at the jellyberry patch instead, where they are caught in a storm and seek shelter in the same dark cave. The two sworn enemies spend the rest of their day playing together, and then go home. Chen's illustrations are winsome enough and feature a cool palette, smiling critters, and variegated landscapes. But the format doesn't work well: the pages stubbornly flop shut and get mixed up, and it's a struggle even for adult hands to keep them in order. If nothing else, this pitched battle keeps readers busy and interested, because the story doesn't.—Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.