Lucky Lulu? Lucky us! The ninth collection of the long-running comic showcases a peak in its run. Every story jumps with dual--generational appeal. The dialogue is impeccably tailored for kids, never broaching anything disturbing to them or offensive to their parents. The drawings often wink at adults, however, without balking the narrative flow. In "Lulu Van Winkle," tell-me-a-story shakedown artist Alvin stomps into Lulu's room while she's still abed. "Get out of here! I've got to get dressed!" she says, shoving him out and slamming the door. But he threatens to tell her mother she was asleep, and zip, she whisks him back in. Children too young to understand modesty don't get the joke, but they don't need to, since it takes only five (of eight) panels on the page, each action-packed. The same story includes the first appearance of that foremost foodstuff in the comics hall of fame, without which the poor little girl and her family, stars of so many tales told to Alvin, would starve--beebleberries.
Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved