Animal Masquerade

( 2 )

Overview

Come one, come all to the animal masquerade! The lion is going as an elephant, the elephant as a parrot, and the parrot as a turtle! Each costume gives way to another, yielding new surprises on every page, and revealing a menagerie of familiar and unusual animals. Young children will delight in the absurd and amusing images (who wouldn't love a ladybug dressed as a hippopotamus?) and will also appreciate the gags (a fish costumed as a cat is dubbed a "catfish") and other bits of silly sweetness. Recapping this ...
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More About This Book

Overview

Come one, come all to the animal masquerade! The lion is going as an elephant, the elephant as a parrot, and the parrot as a turtle! Each costume gives way to another, yielding new surprises on every page, and revealing a menagerie of familiar and unusual animals. Young children will delight in the absurd and amusing images (who wouldn't love a ladybug dressed as a hippopotamus?) and will also appreciate the gags (a fish costumed as a cat is dubbed a "catfish") and other bits of silly sweetness. Recapping this reading adventure: a detailed panorama at book's end, showing all the party guests in their fanciful finery.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Dubuc’s collection of colored-pencil drawings of animals dressed up as other animals, a companion in tone and format to 2010’s In Front of My House, has two great virtues. The first is that it’s blissfully free of moral lessons—it’s simply animals on their way to a costume party. The second is that Dubuc’s supply of dorky costumes is nearly inexhaustible—there are dozens and dozens of them. When a lion sees an invitation for a masquerade nailed to a tree, he wonders what animal he should dress up as: “As a cat? As a chicken? As a toad?” When the page turns, readers see him in a homemade elephant costume. An actual elephant on the opposite page gives him a sharp look before deciding to go as a parrot, and on it goes (“The parrot went disguised as...”), with each new disguise revealed by a page turn. Dubuc’s inventiveness grows ever wackier: “The cow, the hare and the chipmunk went disguised as... A scary three-headed monster. The scary three-headed monster went disguised as... A tiny marmoset.” An unassuming gem. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—A curious lion discovers an invitation to the animal masquerade tacked to a tree. "Come one, come all," it says. "Disguises are a must!" The lion ponders his costume choices and decides to dress up as an elephant. What disguise does the elephant don? A parrot, that's what, and the parrot goes "disguised as… A turtle." The parade of costumed guests proceeds from there, comprised of familiar animals like a dog, cat, and tiger, as well as a menagerie of more exotic creatures, including an armadillo, millipede, marmoset, and unicorn. Bringing up the rear, the platypus does not wear a costume: "He looks like he's already in disguise." Dubuc interrupts the repetitive flow of the text with well-placed and humorous observations and asides. "The teeny-tiny fish went disguised as… A cat. That makes him a catfish!" Set against a white background, the comical pencil crayon illustrations are brimming with personality, and the childlike charm of the simple drawings contributes to the overall appeal of the book. Wishing that they, too, could attend the masquerade, children will eagerly turn the pages to discover the disguise chosen by their favorite animal. Pair this finely illustrated, amusing picture book with Lindsey Craig's Farmyard Beat (2011) or Judy Sierra's Wild About Books (2004, both Knopf).—Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA
Kirkus Reviews
Animals everywhere, all in disguise! It's time for the animal masquerade, and lion begins considering his costume. He settles on…an elephant. But what will the elephant be? A parrot. And which costume will the parrot choose? A turn of the page reveals all. Simple text, translated from French, accompanies inventive colored-pencil illustrations of an assortment of animals in and out of costume on white backgrounds. At times, the typography cleverly changes to reflect the costume (the word "bat" is upside down, and the letters in "ostrich" sink down under the margins). For the most part, each spread features an animal in disguise and then the actual animal pondering what his or her costume should be, though there are exceptions. A turtle dresses as Little Red Riding Hood, who in turn dresses as a chocolate cake, a dessert the bear loves, for instance. The text is clear but somewhat extraneous, existing primarily to provide a context for the illustrations. The choice of animals feels haphazard (gorilla, armadillo, chicken and unicorn, to name a few), and while this makes for quirky and amusing pictures, it takes away from the general coherence of the story, such as it is. That said, the pictures are colorful, appealing and childlike, and youngsters will enjoy the gentle humor of the images while considering which animal they'd like to be; the costumes themselves seem like they would be fairly easy to re-create. A good choice for imaginative animal lovers. (Picture book. 2-5)
Leonard S. Marcus
…sparklingly droll and imaginative…Marianne Dubuc…has created a delightful cavalcade of birds and beasts, nattily attired as they prepare for a costume party. Nearly all have opted to go as a different animal, and much of the heat generated by these sly, elegant pencil drawings comes from seeing the natural order so freely scrambled.
—The New York Times Book Review
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781554537822
  • Publisher: Kids Can Press, Limited
  • Publication date: 3/1/2012
  • Pages: 120
  • Sales rank: 470,501
  • Age range: 3 - 7 Years
  • Product dimensions: 7.30 (w) x 7.30 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Marianne Dubuc wrote and illustrated In Front of My House, which was nominated for the 2011 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and La Mer, which received a 2008 Prix LUX/Grafika prize. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Marianne Dubuc wrote and illustrated In Front of My House, which was nominated for the 2011 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and La Mer, which received a 2008 Prix LUX/Grafika prize. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Posted June 13, 2012

    Lighthearted Fun

    The drawings tell the story, which delighted my 3 year old granddaughter. It's great fun, and educational, too, since many more animals are included compared to similar titles that use a collection of critters in the story line.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 28, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

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