Ribbon Rescue

Featuring a variety of voices, Munschs (Love You Forever) light, energetic paper-over-board book is well suited for reading aloud. Just after Jillian dons a brand-new ribbon dress, with pink and red ribbons flowing from under the bib-like collar, she encounters a tuxedo-clad fellow running down the road, laceless shoes in hand. Chiming, Im late. Im lost!/ Im late. Im lost! the harried groom fears that he is going to miss his own wedding. Jillian helpfully tears two ribbons off her dress, uses them to lace his shoes and lends him a skateboard to expedite his trip to the church. To the tune of similar refrains, the girl hands out ribbons (and a variety of transports) to bail out the tardy bride, whose hair is disheveled; a family with a wedding gift in need of wrapping, etc. Though Jillians good deeds leave her dress in tatters, the happy (and grateful) couple ask her to be their flower girl. Fernandess (A Difficult Day, reviewed below) cartoony gouache and colored-pencil pictures reinforce the slapstick tenor of the tale. She strews the artwork with diverting particulars, such as a host of buoyant frogs on each page (one even finds its way into the flower girls bouquet). A bizarre extraneous endnote mentions that Jillian is a Mohawk from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal and her ribbon dress is a traditional Mohawk costume, which imposes an unnecessary and jarring historical context on this effervescent story. Ages 3-6. (May)