The series of events in these two books make for a wild ride!
Don’t Slam the Door!
by Dori Chaconas
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978 0 7636 3709 5
Audience: 3 to 7 years
A little red-haired girl implores, “Please don’t slam the door!” But of course, the door gets slammed, and wakes the cat, as she predicted. And the cat plays in the yarn, as she feared, and knots it up, and then… well, it’s a series of unfortunate events if ever there was one, and things escalate until she has to put things back to rights in the end, shooing bees, bears, and cows out of the house – and asking them to please not slam the door on their way.
It’s a fun little chain of things that loops back on itself in the end, but like many good picture books, what really makes it is the illustrations. Will Hillenbrand is, as always, jaunty and fun, but is using bolder colours than his usual, giving it a little bit of a wilder edge that gives the whole package a more rollicking feel than the story already did.
Fortunately, Unfortunately
by Michael Foreman
Andersen Press
ISBN: 978 0 7613 7460 2
Audience: 4 to 7 years
A small monkey boy has been asked to take an umbrella back to his grandma’s house for her – and fall into a crazy sequence of things that alternate between rescuing him and plunging him into yet another piece of trouble. It is one truly wild ride, veering between whales and pirates, lost world and aliens, as quick as you can say, “Unfortunately…” By the time he gets the fateful umbrella back to his grandma, it is noticeably battered. The story is not quite finished at the end, though…
This is not the first book I’ve seen do this sort of thing (Fortunately by Remy Charlip and Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer come readily to mind), but it’s done well here, with all sorts of off-the-wall happenings full of the stuff of little kid fantasies, and featuring bright, cartoony illustrations that keep it from getting serious, even in the dangerous bits. The little twist at the end also make this a great starting point for dreaming up your own additional adventures!