Lady Bugatti (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

Maxner, Joyce; Hawkes, Kevin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140548327 ISBN 13: 9780140548327

Publisher: Puffin, 1993

Synopsis

Lady Bugatti and her insect guests dine together and then have an enjoyable evening at the theater

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-- Maxner returns to the world of insects so creatively and successfully employed in Nicholas Cricket (HarperCollins, 1989) . However, whereas that story had a kind of logic--it was possible to imagine insects and other field creatures congregating at the local cafe to dance to the music of a cricket band--Lady Bugatti, an elegant ladybug, lives in a sophisticated city of the 1920s. The rather labored account tells of an insect dinner party followed by a trip to the theater. The only tension occurs when Lady Bugatti vanishes during the performance, but the mystery is solved when she reappears at the end of the program to present a prize to the winning performer. Hawkes's full-page, richly colored paintings create a fully realized, highly styled art-deco world--one could imagine Fred Astaire dancing down the sweep of staircase where Lady Bugatti makes her first appearance. The guests, Dragonia Fly and Madame Flutterby, are elegantly dressed in the Egyptian and Japanese styles of the time, and great attention has been paid to decorative detail. Hawkes has creatively utilized insect motifs throughout--the murals on the stairs, the neon marquee, and the resplendent theater curtain feature leaping grasshoppers, crickets, and ants. The rather thin text has been richly and inventively interpreted, and children may well be intrigued by the idea of an insect city and the visual consistency with which it is portrayed. However, there is little in the story itself to catch or hold their interest. --Eleanor K. MacDonald, Beverly Hills Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of the fanciful Nicholas Cricket (1989) spins another gossamer-light story about urbane insects at a sophisticated party--in this case, dinner followed by a theatrical event, where the elegant hostess (``in her orange gown with black dots all around'') awards the prize for the best performance. The verse here, though still full of amusing names and details, dances somewhat less adroitly than in the earlier book; in his second appearance, Hawkes (When the Troll Heard the Squeak, p. 248) provides bright, boldly designed paintings that catch the ambience and slyly extend the humor but don't have William Joyce's high style--which gave Nicholas its amusingly satirical tone. (Picture book. 5-9) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0140548327
• ISBN 13: 9780140548327
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320