35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Feelings on This One, September 19, 2010
This review is from: Bink and Gollie (Junior Library Guild Selection (Candlewick Press)) (Hardcover)
My rating is 3.5 stars.
The delightfully fun drawings of Tony Fucile are, IMHO, worthy of top billing in this short collection of three stories by popular children's authors Kate DiCamillo (
The Tale of Despereaux and
Because of Winn-Dixie) and Alison McGhee (
Someday). I loved the black & white illustrations and the punches of color that drew the eye.
To my surprise, while I thought the writing was fine (though not stellar), I was less than enamored with the stories & the character of Gollie. The lovable Bink completely won me over, but Gollie? Not so much.
Here's why:
Story 1: Bink & Gollie go into a store where Bink buys some brightly striped socks. She loves them. Gollie does not. Later the girls "compromise" and Bink wears only one of the socks.
My thoughts: Why the heck does Bink have to stop wearing something she loves in order to ensure Gollie's friendship?
Story 2: Gollie is in her bedroom imagining a mountaineering trip and Bink is having some difficulty understanding the "Keep Out" signs on Gollie's door.
My thoughts: Wanting some time alone is understandable and I don't have any problem with it. But why was it only when Bink showed up with food that Gollie relented and let her in? Was she hungry?
Story 3: Bink buys a fish and is thrilled to death with it even though Gollie tells her it's a lousy pet. When the girls are roller skating together - along with the fish, who is in his bowl - Gollie quickly saves the fish when the bowl breaks.
My thoughts: Just how far were the girls from a house where they could have gotten a cup of water to put the fish in while they took it back home? Instead, Gollie "saves" the fish by putting it into a pond where, coincidentally, it will no longer compete with her for Bink's time. (Not to mention that, even though we see the fish beneath the ice in a drawing with the girls ice skating, in reality it probably would have died.)
Thinking I must be missing something, I gave it a second read when I was back at the bookstore a couple of days later. But my reaction was the same. Maybe I'm just being weird about these stories, interpreting them poorly or seeing things that simply aren't there. But I know the book isn't going into my collection. In addition, if I were Bink's mom, I think I'd tell her that she could do better in the best friend department.
So - 5 stars for Fucile's great artwork and for the adorable Bink (who I would love to see much more of); 2 stars for Gollie as portrayed in these pages. That averages out to 3.5 stars. I rounded up to 4 stars because of my admiration for many of DiCamillo's other stories and because my annoyance over the whole sock incident (seems minor, I know, but it just bugged me) may have colored my interpretation of Gollie's actions in the other two stories.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cool, January 15, 2011
This review is from: Bink and Gollie (Junior Library Guild Selection (Candlewick Press)) (Hardcover)
I picked this book up from the local library for my nephew. I loved it and so did my nephew. The pictures, the personalities of the two characters and their language, make both you and your child smile. And you think to yourself I need to look for more Bink and Gollie books. I didn't find them at the library. And now that I am searching here on Amazon, it seems there are no more. I wish there were!
Oh and I forgot to mention, next time I visited my nephew, he said "Greetings Boo E" ("Greetings" is how Bink and Gollie greet each other. Boo E is just what my nephew calls me.).
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Darling and Original, September 27, 2010
This review is from: Bink and Gollie (Junior Library Guild Selection (Candlewick Press)) (Hardcover)
My two kids (and me) are huge Kate DiCamillo fans. For my daughter (10) it all began with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and for my son (7) the Mercy Watson series. Bink and Gollie is just plain fun! Quirky and original which is what my kids are drawn to. My daughter is also a fan of co-author Alison McGhee and her Julia Jillian series so naturally we were excited about theit collaboration. This adorable short chapter book about two friends subtlely conveys the beauty of relationships and self-discovery that these two authors are so great at. Simple and sweet.
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