JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

Perhaps the animals should have decided on a costume party instead of a “come-as-you-are” soiree. The irrepressible Pfister’s (Rainbow Fish to the Rescue, not reviewed, etc.) new outing plays peekaboo with animals’ faces as they get ready for a party by worrying over their looks. The story circles through the anxious participants as they long for features they admire on other animals. Lion wants a toucan’s beak, elephant wants to hop like a kangaroo, and all the rest of them cover more fashion anxieties than you’d find at a typical school dance. But of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in the end, each is convinced to show up in his own natural glory. Pfister uses die-cut pages to humorously show the mix-and-match fantasies. His thematically colored illustrations are soft and simply highlighted with the texture of canvas board coming through. Young children are subtly reassured by the repetition of the natural faces stamped quietly in the background of each page and listening to the repetitions of language in the storytelling. There couldn’t be any more to enhance the package. In addressing one of childhood’s basic insecurities, Pfister has produced an engaging work which children and adults will raptly appreciate “just the way it is.” (Picture book. 5-8)