The Neat Line: Scribbling Through Mother Goose

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 3–In this brilliantly creative romp through the land of Mother Goose, a baby scribble, after much practice, becomes a Neat Line and enters a book of nursery rhymes. (Youngsters may recognize their own struggles with print as they view Scribble's humorous transformation.) There the line helps Little Boy Blue corral his sheep and cows by drawing a horn; saves Jack and Jill from another fall by drawing a pathway up the hill; waters Mary's drooping flowers (contrary Mary is in a snit and refuses to do so herself) by drawing a rain cloud; and creates a bird to scare away the spider harassing Little Miss Muffet. Tired from its labors, the line draws itself into the Man in the Moon and goes to sleep. The relevant nursery-rhyme verse follows each of Neat Line's encounters with the distressed characters. "Leave it to me," says the confident line, as it proceeds to draw itself into the problem-solving object. The large cartoon paintings, many of them spreads, are appropriately outlined with thick, bold lines and are framed by book pages on either side. This resourceful Neat Line deserves to take its place beside Peter H. Reynolds's The Dot (Candlewick, 2003) and Carole Lexa Schaefer's The Squiggle (Crown, 1996) as it inspires readers to attempt ever more challenging rescues by adding more characters and drawings to the story. A thoroughly satisfying journey.–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.