Neck & Neck

A giraffe with sky-high attitude, wildly fluctuating facial expressions, and a knack for spot-on zingers lifts this latest outing from Parsley (If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!) to hilarious heights. The only giraffe at the zoo, lofty Leopold relishes the undivided attention and the ample snacks that young visitors shower upon him--until he comes snout-to-snout with an imposter: a balloon shaped like a giraffe featuring an impossibly wide, toothy grin. When the kid holding the balloon boasts about his giraffe's assets, Leopold takes his bruised ego to his favorite tree, where he chomps off a branch and punctures the "grinning goofus." His triumph is short-lived, since the kid reappears holding multiple identical balloons--not quite tightly enough, as it turns out--catapulting Leopold into a moral dilemma ("To save. Or not to save?"). Revealing the spindly hero in an array of silly poses and overblown moods, Parsley's digital illustrations deliver a laugh on each spread. And readers will cheer on Leopold as he opts to take the high road--and ends up on top. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (June)

PreS-Gr 2--Leopold the giraffe greatly enjoys being the center of attention at the zoo. So, when he spies competition in the form of a giraffe-head balloon being held by a small boy, Leopold does everything he can to capture the child's attention, including getting rid of the balloon. After much consideration and soul searching, Leopold assists the boy in acquiring a replacement balloon and earns the child's adoration. The story unfolds at a decent pace, maintaining slight suspense over what the characters will do next. The vocabulary used is simple and expressive, and even changes font for dramatic emphasis. This device is extremely effective for read-alouds as the text acts like performance cues. Early readers should still be able to understand the story through Parsley's dynamic expressions for each character, especially Leopold. Through a combination of Adobe and Corel, Parsley has created a series of distinguished illustrations that tell a story all on their own. In fact, there are certain turning points that are expressed solely through facial expression with no textual assistance. While both text and illustration could tell the story separately, together they create an energetic, relatable tale with multiple surprises that force readers to think about how they handle competition. VERDICT An excellent story to teach toddlers how to do the right thing, even when they don't want to.--Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL