From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1–Boo and Baa, two small sheep, are raking leaves when they discover a cat stuck up a tree. In their attempt to lure it down, Boo gets stuck instead. Ultimately he gets down, and the cat gets back up, so they leave it an escape route and go to bed. The final spread shows Boo and Baa in their beds, and the cat asleep on the carpet. The text, only a few lines per page, is so spare that it verges on being stilted, but it is this very restraint that imbues it with humor. The story is likely to tickle youngsters funny bones. The Landströms use bold outlines to depict the two appealing little lambs with large eyes and very expressive faces. The illustrations vary in size and page layout, which adds both motion and visual appeal and enhances the minimalist text. While not an essential purchase, this enjoyable autumn tale will certainly find an audience with preschoolers and early readers alike.
–Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS-Gr. 2. The intrepid sheep Boo and Baa are raking leaves when they hear a cat high above them, sitting on a tree limb and afraid to climb down. After unsuccessfully tempting it with sardines and a plank to a second-story window, Boo tries a rescue but ends up stuck in the tree himself when his ladder breaks. There's more to come, all of which will leave children laughing out loud. With body language and choreography worthy of a classic silent-film comedy, this droll picture book uses page design and the page turns exceptionally well in telling the story. Fully twice the size of the six earlier picture books in the Boo and Ba series, this volume allows for more on a page and has enabled the illustrator to use the space more creatively, which he does by varying the sizes and shapes of his images and using unusual perspectives. Sensitive line drawings create empathy with the well-meaning but calamity-prone characters. Translated from Swedish into economical English prose, the text provides deadpan commentary and short conversations that explain what's happening in the pictures. It's the artwork, however, that makes Boo and Baa stand out as a great comic team. One thing is certain: some humor really
does translate.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
