THE STRAIGHT LINE WONDER
by Mem Fox & illustrated by Marc Rosenthal
The illustrator of Daniil Kharrm'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)