The Straight Line Wonder

Despite the admonitions of his friends, a straight line enjoys expressing himself by twirling in whirls, pointing his joints, and creeping in heaps

Grade 1-3?This disappointing offering from Australia has a '50s look and a very pointed moral. Three lines are the best of friends. On a whim, one of them starts "jumping in humps, twirling in whirls, pointing his joints," and "creeping in heaps," much to the mortification of the other two straight-arrows. One day, a famous film director discovers the expressive line and makes him a star. That's it folks. The repetition is monotonous and there are no surprises. The India ink and dark watercolor cartoons are lively, but cannot salvage this tired story line. There are so many other picture books about the value of being true to oneself that this one is unnecessary.?Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The illustrator of Daniil Kharms's First, Second (1996) rises ingeniously to the challenge of a story Fox (Feathers and Fools, 1996, etc.) published in Australia ten years ago. Weary of being straight, a line goes off ``jumping in humps, twirling in whirls, pointing his joints, and springing in rings.'' Friends chase after, begging him to ``Stay straight, silly!'' because ``People will stare!''--but when his gyrations blow the beret off a famous film director, off he goes to fame and fortune. In a style reminiscent both of 1930s cartoons and 1960s underground ``comix,'' Rosenthal populates uncrowded streets with straight, black lines, cleverly differentiated by height and headgear, posed either stiffly upright or at casual angles. Fox and Rosenthal make a lively pair--and, is there a subtext here? Let readers decide. (Picture book. 6-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.