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Better Together
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On Ellie and Carrie's first day of second grade there's a brand new kid in the class. But when the teacher asks her students to welcome the ultrablond, blue-eyed, pink-lipped, loud-voiced, accent-sporting Lazlo S. Gasky to Brookhaven School, they all mock him instead: "Too different and strange to fit in they all feared." Lazlo grows unhappier by the minute, as he is ostracized and taunted by his classmates. One day, however, when Ellie sees his sad-looking mother walking forlornly toward her car ("Her son's having trouble, she might pull him out, / this school may be wrong for him, she's full of doubt"), things begin to look up for Lazlo. At that moment Ellie begins to wonder what it must be like to be a new kid, feeling so "different and strange," and she decides to take steps to get to know him, even at the risk of facing her friends' ridicule. ("At school the next day the kids stopped her and said, / 'You were walking with Lazlo, are you sick in the head?' / Ellie paused and replied, 'Now I know him, you see, / Lazlo isn't that different from you and from me.'"
NBC News' Today coanchor Katie Couric's rhyming book provides a healthy approach to treating people who may be perceived as different, and works well as a springboard to discussion. Though the suddenness of Ellie's turnaround in attitude seems a bit unnatural and the rhymes are often forced ("They arrived at his door greeted by his French poodle / and Mrs. Gasky was there with a plate of warm strudel!"), the message of The Brand New Kid will certainly not be lost on children. As Couric writes in her introduction, "It sometimes takes courage, but I hope this story will inspire all of us to reach out and make someone feel a little less scared and a little less lonely." Hear, hear. Caldecott Honor artist Marjorie Priceman's watercolor spreads are positively delightful, washing warmly over the pages in a free, buoyant style. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter
From Publishers Weekly
Couric, co-host of NBC's Today show, pens an energetic though uneven picture book about tolerance. When second grader Lazlo S. Gasky, who speaks and looks different from everyone else, arrives at Brookhaven School, the other kids are quick to both tease and alienate him. Some weeks later, when Ellie McSnelly sees Lazlo's tearful mother, the girl makes kind overtures to him that Lazlo happily returns many times over. Ellie soon inspires others to extend a hand in friendship. Couric's laudable message of inclusion comes through. Unfortunately, however, the narrative's rhyming-couplets format results in forced, sometimes ungrammatical, phrasing (e.g., "They arrived at his door greeted by his French poodle/ and Mrs. Gasky was there with a plate of warm strudel!" and "He's terrific at chess, and his Mom's really sweet./ Playing soccer the guy doesn't have two left feet"). In what appears to be a hole in the plot, Ellie's best friend, Carrie, from whom she is initially inseparable, all but disappears for much of the proceedings. Priceman (Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin) compensates by picturing Carrie even when she's absent from the text. Using softer lines and more muted hues than usual, the artist captures a full gamut of emotion, particularly in the crabby faces of taunting classmates and a beaming portrait of Lazlo at the moment he makes his first real friend. Ages 3-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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