Humphrey & Ralph

When his baby brother seems to be getting all the attention, Ralph tries to find ways to get noticed himself

PreSchool-Grade 2-A rather pedestrian treatment of sibling relationships. Disgusted with the attention his infant brother attracts, Ralph keeps trying to prevent Humphrey from catching up to him. When the baby starts to grow up in spite of his efforts, desperate measures are called for. But when the tyke's first word is "Alph," all is forgiven and Ralph concedes that sometime, when they are both grown, Humphrey just might be useful. Although the idea of keeping ahead of a younger sibling is novel, it is not presented clearly enough. The drastic solution of putting Humphrey in an overflowing bathtub and teaching him to be a goldfish seems like a dangerous thing to suggest to young readers. The cartoon illustrations fill the pages with hot shades of pastel color but do not entrance. Ralph is shown frowning most of the time. His parents seem to be rather dense and unsympathetic; the pictures underline their emotional remoteness by never showing their faces. Stick with Kevin Henkes's wonderful Julius, the Baby of the World (Greenwillow, 1990), Anita Harper's It's Not Fair (Philomel, 1986), and Russell Hoban's A Baby Sister for Frances (HarperCollins, 1964). Humphrey & Ralph doesn't measure up.
Judy Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another story of sibling jealousy: big brother Ralph resents the new baby, Humphrey, and can't quite understand the fuss, given that Humphrey doesn't seem able to do much ("Good at sleeping?" Ralph thinks derisively). And, like so many others, this tale is resolved when the baby wins over his older sibling by a form of flattery; in this case, Humphrey chuckles rather than cries when Ralph falls with him in his arms, and then pronounces his first word, "'alph." Though lacking the originality of Andres's first book (Fish Story), the tale has moments of affection and wit (while visitors coo endlessly over the baby and speculate about which parent he most resembles, Ralph thinks that Humphrey "didn't look like anyone... more like the picture of the seal in his Baby Mammals book"). Day does not accentuate Andres's imaginative characterizations, however: while the author creates characters who are both recognizable and idiosyncratic, the artist simply moves them into the swelling camp of postmodern chic. Rendering the figures in murky pastels, giving them oddly planed faces and using faux-childlike lines to define their limbs, he limits the story by bringing to it a highly mannered aesthetic. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A funny, beautifully written book by the award-winning author of Fish Story (1993). Ralph is Humphrey's older brother and he is not easily impressed--certainly not by a baby like Humphrey, who is just learning to eat, wave, clap, and pat the cat. Ralph becomes jealous of all the attention Humphrey is getting for doing such simple things. He takes matters into his own hands--learning how to cook eggs and use the washing machine (both with disastrous results), and treating Humphrey like his pet fish by filling the bathtub for him to swim in and sprinkling it with fish food. When he hears Humphrey crying one day, he tries to take him out of the crib by himself. They both crash to the floor, and Humphrey laughs and says his first word, ``Alph.'' Ralph is finally impressed by his baby brother. The text is sensitive and perceptive about the trials--and rewards--of being an older sibling. And Day's comic, colorful illustrations complement it perfectly. Amusing and well told. (Picture book. 3-6) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4-8. Ralph is jealous of his baby brother, Humphrey. Ralph doesn't like it when the baby's too small to notice him. Ralph is unsettled when the baby learns to wave and clap and steals all the attention. Ralph is furious when the baby starts to walk and threatens to catch up with him. There's not much story--in the end, of course, quite suddenly, Ralph discovers that his brother needs him and that they love each other--but the usual displacement scenario is enlivened by Day's pastel cartoon illustrations that exaggerate Ralph's sulky rage at not being center stage. The humor of Andres' text is in the detail as seen from Ralph's point of view. Kids will recognize how he tries to act superior to this baby "who couldn't do anything really important," even while he wishes that he could just give the nuisance away. Hazel Rochman