Shhhh!
written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross
(Anderson, 10.99)
This is the ump-teenth picture book I've seen this year on the theme of war. As a reader you become ready to defend yourself against the obvious pull on the heartstrings with storylines proposing sentimental fixes. How can a picture book adequately convey the complexity of awful events, in a way that is suitable for the target age range? Looking at the endpapers of this book, it's an ambitious promise.
We are to be moved from chaotic squiggly lines at the front of the book to the same colours rendered in ruler-straight lines on the back. So what exactly happens in between? A shrew thinks of lots of different ways to tell 'the secret of Peace on Earth', but none is sufficiently powerful to allow him to be heard above the noises made by animals, workers, and battling insects, all of which have large 'noises' labels for children to mimic.
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