Cockatoo, Too

Murguia’s (I Feel Five!) featherlight divertissement blends elegant artwork and wordplay to ponder. The setting: a jungle of blue-green fronds and exotic flowers. Layers of foliage fade toward the back, creating a sense of misty depth. The star is a small cockatoo—sad-eyed and stumpy-legged, with an orange crest and a beak like a droopy moustache. “Cockatoo,” it announces, facing front and raising its wings in introduction. A page turn reveals two legs descending from the top of the page as the cockatoo looks up suspiciously. The new arrival, also a cockatoo, has a yellow crest. “Cockatoo, too?” “Two cockatoos!” they cry, joining wings and taking a dance step. Two more sets of legs appear. “Two cockatoos, too?” The punning continues as tutus are donned for a performance, and the arrival of a line of dancing toucans pushes the wordplay still further: “Tutued toucans can-can.” When the pun possibilities expire, the book ends abruptly, with a small bird summarily pronouncing the chaos “Too, too much.” It’s the only weak moment in a visually pleasing and aurally provocative outing. Ages 3–6. [em]Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Jan.) [/em]