ESTELLE AND LUCY
Anna Alter, ESTELLE AND LUCYAnna AlterThe main attraction of Alter's debut is her buttery-toned, crosshatched watercolor and ink artwork that harks back to times past. As the volume opens, a feline mother in a floor-length dress prepares raspberry tarts. "Lucy always wants to do what I'm doing," complains the kitten, Estelle, of her cohort, Lucy the mouse, as Estelle mixes the batter. The framed vignettes and full-bleed illustrations possess a compelling austerity, but the inscrutable, almost affectless expressions of her characters and their repeated poses create an off-putting coldness and sameness. Alter finds authentic and often vivid ways for Estelle to enumerate all the things she can do that Lucy can't ("I can climb the stepstool and make a shadow as big as a house. I am big enough to fit in Papa's slippers and slip-slop
down the long front hall"), but the mouse never gets her own day in court; she simply tags along in the pictures. The closing image of Estelle sharing a tart with Lucy may not be enough to convince youngsters that this friendship will be a lasting one. Ages 3-up. (Apr.)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 04/16/2001
Genre: Children's
Library Binding - 1 pages - 978-0-688-17883-3
The main attraction of Alter's debut is her buttery-toned, crosshatched watercolor and ink artwork that harks back to times past. As the volume opens, a feline mother in a floor-length dress prepares raspberry tarts. "Lucy always wants to do what I'm doing," complains the kitten, Estelle, of her cohort, Lucy the mouse, as Estelle mixes the batter. The framed vignettes and full-bleed illustrations possess a compelling austerity, but the inscrutable, almost affectless expressions of her characters and their repeated poses create an off-putting coldness and sameness. Alter finds authentic and often vivid ways for Estelle to enumerate all the things she can do that Lucy can't ("I can climb the stepstool and make a shadow as big as a house. I am big enough to fit in Papa's slippers and
Reviewed on: 04/16/2001
Genre: Children's
Library Binding - 1 pages - 978-0-688-17883-3
