MR. GRAY & FRIEDA FROLIC

Two neighbors could not be more different than Mr. Gray and Miss Frolic.

Mr. Gray is a numbers man and a famous professor. Everything about him is gray: his house, his dog, Tuffy, his clothes, and even his canary. He also hates noise, so he is forever annoyed with his neighbor, Frieda Frolic, who disturbs his morning meditations by “cheerfully warbling, singing, and laughing” and puttering about her garden with her piglet, Rosa. Miss Frolic is quite colorful; in fact, she is a painter. One afternoon, she is painting an especially beautiful and lifelike yellow bird when it comes to life and flies over to Mr. Gray’s house. He is just about to tell Miss Frolic off when she removes her sunglasses. He sees her beautiful blue-gray eyes and is smitten. They begin spending much time together. Mr. Gray becomes more colorful, and eventually, he proposes marriage. The two sail off together in “life’s boat” with a now happy Tuffy, Rosa the piglet, Miss Frolic’s yellow bird, and Mr. Gray’s no-longer-gray canary. First published in Switzerland (Herr Grau & Frieda Fröhlich, 2021), this translation by Wilson tells a simple, unlikely love story with colored-pencil illustrations that are charming and mirror Mr. Gray’s journey from drab to fab. There is a lot of text for a picture book, and because of the small font, this book is probably best shared one-on-one. The protagonists are White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not particularly original but a sweet addition to the shelf of translated picture books.