January 20, 2023
PreS-Gr 1-Emberley's ragtag crew of toy-like friends, headed by a feline creature in pajamas first introduced in I Did It!, find themselves invited to a party at an indeterminate location by means of a paper airplane note. With characteristic aplomb, they devise methods of transport using the pages of their own book, including intricate race cars, speedy sleds, and most magnificently, sailboats that forge an ocean concealed behind the paper peeled away. Following a disastrous tidal wave, they flip the process, folding the ocean back into paper, and creating the door to the party they were headed to. Emberley's manipulation of the book's pages into papercraft is at once intuitive and gently mind-bending, and celebrates infinite creative possibilities. The plot and pacing of the group's journey capture a dizzying pursuit of fun and a youthful creativity which young readers will quickly connect with, both in the reading experience and in their own play. The dialogue between characters, relegated largely to commands about the group's forward movement, is more complex than the intentionally repetitive I Did It!, but stays simple enough for most early readers, whether read with a caregiver or perused on one's own. VERDICT Emberley's grasp of narrative pacing, playful exploration of the multitudinous use of the pages of a book, and irresistibly giddy group of toy-like friends, make this a fun, flowing read.-Emilia Packard
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from November 15, 2022
When little ones use their imaginations, there's no limit to where they can go. Emberley's catlike protagonist and friends return in this follow-up to the excellent early reader I Did It! (2022). This time, the main character--still dressed in their pink-and-green-striped pajamas with matching ear covers--is invited to a friend's shindig via paper airplane. Our hero, accompanied by an offbeat group of friends--a penguin, an automaton, a raccoon, and an elephantlike robot--dash off, ready to party! But when they realize they're traveling too slowly, they find creative ways to speed up their journey. Each character has a different idea, and the group of friends supports and helps each other throughout. The characters unfold the pages of the book, folding them into origami-like vehicles: cars, sleds, boats, and more. Readers will feel a sublime joy as they follow the internal logic that supports the inspired solutions, and caregivers will love continuing the conversation as they discuss ways these ideas could work in the real world. Emberley is a master of balancing white space and color, and his skills are on fine display here. Young readers with big imaginations will see themselves frolicking in the pages, and the characters might motivate others to consider new levels of possibilities. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Go, go, go...read this book! (Early reader. 4-8)
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January 1, 2023
Emberley's crew of critters (I Did It!, rev. 9/22) returns for another exciting early-reader comic. This fast-paced story begins before its title page with a caped reptile launching a paper airplane. The plane's circuitous flight crosses two pages and multiple panels and ends at our friendly monster, toy elephant, masked raccoon, shimmery robot, and tiny penguin. It's a party invitation, inspiring the friends to immediately take off for the bash with a collective "LET'S GO!" A series of setbacks (from fatigue to snow to large bodies of water) impedes the crew's progress; however, cooperation and creative problem-solving prevail. The creatures use scraps of paper torn from the very pages of the book they are in to create skis, boats, and more and continue their journey. Emberley's cartooning is complex and compelling, while the dialogue-only text is intentionally repetitive and charismatic. Energetic pencil illustrations convey a strong sense of animation between fluctuating panel configurations and page layouts. The digital coloring is expressive, shifting between modeled realism and completely flat blocks of color -- signaling shifts in tone, time, and/or setting. Imaginative, playful, and deceptively unassuming, this comic for early readers serves as a respectful (and exceedingly entertaining) introduction to the comics format.
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)