The Blunder of the Rogues - Hardcover

Egan, Tim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395910072 ISBN 13: 9780395910078

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999

Synopsis

The Rogues, a band of mischievous young animals, are transformed into real crooks when they get involved with Vincent the goat and an innocent-looking little old sheep lady. By the author of Distant Feathers. 10,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Tim Egan is the author and illustrator of several offbeat and humorous tales for children. He is consistently recognized for his individuality and delightful illustrations. Born in New Jersey, Tim moved to California to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He still lives in southern California with his wife, Ann, and their two sons. To learn more about Tim Egan, visit his Web site at www.timegan.com. For a complete list of books by Tim Egan, visit www.houghton mifflinbooks.com.

Reviews

Egan, who honed his hard-boiled voice in Friday Night at Hodges' Cafe and Chestnut Cove, forays into tough-guy turf with this story of four decent fellows gone wrong. The suitably noir setting, subtly rendered in watercolor and ink, is a coastal town of quaint brick buildings and antique roadsters. The animal characters wear felt hats, vests and rumpled coats with a 1930s-era fashion flair. Narrator Skunk ("I'm actually a raccoon, but I guess I didn't bathe enough when I was younger and the nickname stuck") belongs to a bowling league called the Rogues, which includes a walrus, a gorilla and a cardsharp rat. Terrible bowlers all, the Rogues decide to form a gang instead. They start with such minor infractions as crossing against traffic lights and stealing hubcaps "because it's a crime and we need the practice." Things turn uglier when a conniving goat and a villainous ewe known as the Sheep Lady put them up to robbery. After cops (depicted as pigs) foil the Rogues' bank heist, the antiheroes land in the slammer. Via Skunk's gruff, Bogie-esque commentary, Egan shows how misdemeanors can escalate and how neophytes can be manipulated by experienced cons. The unsentimental plot, which goes from droll fun-and-games to a much more serious situation, forwards a distinct crime-doesn't-pay message. Egan challenges picture-book conventions, but with mixed results: an epilogue, which unconvincingly shows the repentant perps all grown up and in meaningful relationships, points to the difficulty of fusing grade-school entertainment with jaded adult hindsight. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Egan's already strange universe (Distant Feathers, 1998, etc.) continues to expand with this weird and terrific story of a bowling team gone wrong. They are the Rogues, a motley band of creatures--raccoon, ape, rat, walrus--who are bad at bowling. One night, after a few particularly awful games, the frustrated ape kicks over a can of trash. It feels so good to all of them that they start down a path of subversive behavior: ``Crossing the street when the light said `Don't Walk.' Scaring pigeons. We felt dangerous.'' They encounter Vincent, who becomes their mentor, and the sheep lady, who trains them in the art of bank robbery. It's all a set-up; Vincent and the sheep lady go free, while the Rogues get seven years each in the slammer. Prison, though scary, does them good, and afterward the Rogues become prosperous and decent citizens of the community. Perhaps readers should just sit down and allow the barking unconventionality of this picture-book topic to wash over them. As ever, Egan's richly atmospheric artwork adds immeasurably to the story, evoking every reformed tough-guy movie ever made in plotting and narration, and just as classic. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395910072
• ISBN 13: 9780395910078
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Egan Tim
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32