A CUP FOR EVERYONE

A penguin son boldly takes up his father’s trade as a potter to help him reclaim his dwindling business. While his father’s away attempting to find new customers, Pucca creates one-of-a-kind cups for his father’s former clients. Each captures the likeness of a particular animal customer. First the talkative parrot who spreads the word, then others; all are captivated by their special cups. When Pucca’s father returns, he is surprised and thrilled by his son’s ingenuity. The delicate illustrations brim with good-hearted energy, the background color modulating to reflect the changing mood of the tale. The text is choppy and lacks the vibrancy and clarity of the illustrations, however, and the story is further burdened by logical snags. However fanciful, there are more plausible choices for animal pairings than a parrot and penguin inhabiting the same landscape. The narrator’s abrupt question to the reader on the final page may confuse: “Is there one [cup] just right for you?” The array of all-animal cups presented to human readers flies in the face of the book’s central conceit. Incomplete. (Picture book. 3-6)