Chloe and the Lion

Take a vaudeville stage with some flimsy painted scenery, two clay figures that represent Barnett and Rex (Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem), a brash and bespectacled heroine named Chloe (hand-drawn), a lion (also drawn), and some walk-on characters, and you've got a comedy sketch in picture-book form about the chaos involved in collaborative storytelling. The action plays out in photos of a small, makeshift stage on which Chloe gets lost in the forest and meets--a lion? Or should it be a dragon? "Mac" and "Adam" disagree vehemently about which would be cooler, and Adam ends up being eaten by the lion. Chloe tries to enlist the help of passersby to save him ("I only go after wolves dressed as old ladies," says a strapping man felling trees) and eventually comes up with a solution of her own, one that allows for even more meta-comedy. As befits its work-in-progress nature, the story gets a little lost in the middle, but rat-a-tat dialogue and fresh visuals should keep it at the top of the bedtime pile. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.)

K-Gr 3--After Barnett and Rex introduce themselves, readers meet Chloe, the main character. The story progresses smoothly until Mac writes that a huge lion leapt out at Chloe, and Adam draws a dragon instead (he "just thought a dragon would be cooler"). A fight erupts over artistic vision, with the author firing the illustrator and having the lion swallow him whole. He then introduces a new artist who can "illustrate a brilliant story written by a true genius." The new illustrator does not work out as hoped, though, and nor do Mac's attempts to illustrate the book himself. Finally Chloe takes command and sets off on a fairy-tale-inspired quest to save the story and Adam. The illustrations are pitch-perfect: claymation for the author and illustrators and cartoon for the story characters, who act out their parts on a proscenium stage. The result is an elaborate prank on the picture-book genre, and it comes together in playful harmony. Chloe is an engaging youngster, sporting blue braids, owlish glasses, and a pith helmet. Children old enough to understand the constructs of a book will delight in the comedic deconstruction, and adults will enjoy the references to traditional tales, from King Arthur to Frankenstein.--Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR