Nomura's tale of two woolly white sheep, accompanied by a DVD of six animated shorts, introduces a set of underdeveloped characters. Poe, a pale-faced ram with curving purple horns, is looking for his best friend Merry, who has a black face and a red flower tucked behind her ear. " 'Baaaah
,' cried Poe. 'What if Merry was sheep-napped by Vak the Wolf?' " Poe gallops to Pillow Rock and poses the question to Mow the tapir: " 'Moop-Moop
,' said Mow. 'I just woke up, so I haven't seen anyone.' " Poe rushes to Thickly Meadow, where Pinok the robot lives: " 'Creekers-creekers-creekers
,' answered Pinok.... 'I-saw-her-I-saw-her-I-saw-her.' " Poe asks for help from a space alien named Phew, Gan the penguin and a groovy yellow rabbit named Raji, who has a green crystal strung around her neck. Ultimately, the neighbors frighten the wolf by standing on each other's shoulders like the Brementown musicians. Players of Nintendo's Animal Crossing
will detect an adventure-game structure in this picture book, which features an endpaper map and a quirky community. Yet where a game offers choices, this tale proceeds to a pat conclusion, and its black print disappears into the pine-green and peat-brown hues of Nomura's grainy pastel illustrations. As the unsmiling characters march home in single file, the text declares, "What a day it was for the little Stray Sheep and their zany friends!" Such an energetic statement unfortunately only emphasizes the overall lack of emotion. All ages. (Sept.)
FYI:
Each of the sheep also stars in its own board book; a plush version of the character is bound into the back cover, and the die-cut pages make the plush visible and touchable throughout—
Stray Sheep: Poe at Play and
Stray Sheep: Merry on the Move, both by D.J. Milky, illus. by Aaron Alexovich
($9.99 each 10p ages 5-up -288-2; -289-0; Sept.)
