BUT EXCUSE ME THAT IS MY BOOK
From the Charlie & Lola series
by Lauren Child & illustrated by Lauren Child
Charlie and his relentlessly verbal little sister Lola, now licensed TV characters, take a trip to the library in this script-based episode, illustrated with stills from the show done in Child’s distinctive photo-and-cartoon collage style. For Lola, the only good book in the world is the oft-read Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies, so she is understandably stressed to see it checked out by another girl—“I don’t think she knows that it is my book!” Fruitlessly trying to hush her, Charlie tempts her with other choices, heading off the gathering storm at last with Cheetahs and Chimpanzees—which, predictably, quickly displaces Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies in Lola’s affections. Adding a melancholy but realistic touch to a familiar interchange, there is no sign of a librarian (or other adult) among the shelves of generic books in this natural follow-up to Marc Brown’s D.W.’s Library Card (2001) and similar exploratory visits. (Picture book. 5-7)