Bink and Gollie: Best Friends Forever

by Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee, Tony Fucile (Illustrator)

Overview

"Fresh, wry dialogue and witty cartooning are as dynamic a pairing as Bink and Gollie themselves." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

All righty, then! Celebrate the tall and short of a marvelous friendship with a new Bink and Gollie adventure. Slapstick and sweetness, drollery and delight abound in this follow-up to the Geisel Award–winning, New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Bink and Gollie, written by the beloved and best-selling Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and brought to hilarious life by Tony Fucile.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763670924
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/11/2014
Series:	Bink and Gollie
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	88
Sales rank:	115,016
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Kate DiCamillo is the author of The Magician’s Elephant, a New York Times bestseller; The Tale of Despereaux, which was awarded the Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, a Newbery Honor book; and six books starring Mercy Watson, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride. Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis.

Alison McGhee is the award-winning author of books for all ages, including Song of Middle C, illustrated by Scott Menchin; the #1 New York Times bestseller Someday, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds; the young adult novel All Rivers Flow to the Sea; and the adult novel Shadow Baby, a Today Show Book Club selection. Alison McGhee lives in Minnesota.

Tony Fucile is the author-illustrator of Let's Do Nothing! chosen as a Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal. He has spent more than twenty years designing and animating characters for numerous feature films, including The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Hometown:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

March 25, 1964

Place of Birth:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Education:

B.A. in English, University of Florida at Gainesville, 1987

Editorial Reviews

As in the previous books, the fresh, wry dialogue and Fucile's witty cartooning are as dynamic a pairing as Bink and Gollie themselves.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Fans of Bink and Gollie will be pleased to welcome them back in three more humorous linked adventures that, as in their earlier appearances, play off their differences but ultimately affirm their mutual affection...Fucile’s digital artwork extends both the humor and the broad appeal. With wide-eyed, smiling characters, crisp black outlines and exaggerated details, they’re reminiscent of (really good) old-fashioned Saturday-morning cartoons.
—Kirkus Reviews

Just as in the first two series entries, the friends’ wildly different sensibilities—and their interests, both shared and disparate—tumble out through personality-filled dialogue and digital illustrations of barely contained chaos.
—The Horn Book

DiCamillo andMcGhee once again cleverly merge early reader, graphic novel, and picture book into a delightful ode to an unlikely duo...Droll, and with spot-on emotions, this return of the dynamic, roller-skating pair will make fans cheer.
—Booklist

[T]he text (almost all dialogue) retains its comic joy as it veers between Gollie’s formal drawl and Bink’s ebullience. As usual, Fucile packs his lines with springy energy... The page design has the lively paneled momentum and theatrical views of a graphic novel, and it effectively partners with the few swift sentences per spread to move novice readers easily through the book.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

In their third chapter book, Bink and Gollie remain as thick as thieves and just as prone to squabbling. In the first of three stories, Gollie discovers a photograph of a royal distant relative and immediately embraces her newfound regal bloodline ("I have long suspected that royal blood flowed in my veins," she muses), donning a crown, cape, and holier-than-thou expression. She soon learns it can be lonely as queen: when Gollie "regret to inform" pancakes-obsessed Bink that "royalty does not cook for others," Bink replies, "Okay. I regret to inform you that I am going home." In the second tale, Bink's desire to be taller leads her to order a highly dubious "Stretch-o-Matic" machine that promises "dramatic change," and in the third, the girls hatch a scheme to become world-record holders. Readers may recognize some aspects of their own close friendships in Bink and Gollie's odd-couple relationship, but these two remain true originals. As in the previous books, the fresh, wry dialogue and Fucile's witty cartooning are as dynamic a pairing as Bink and Gollie themselves. Ages 6–8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 1–3—Bink and Gollie dream of royalty, fame, and stature in three amusing tales. In "Empire of Enchantment," Gollie is certain that queenly blood flows through her veins when she finds a picture of a regal aunt. She drives Bink crazy with all her airs. She sweeps through the streets complimenting the townsfolk on "their efforts on behalf of the empire." When it starts to rain, Gollie's snooty demeanor falters, and she's back to her old self. In the second story, Bink decides to get a Stretch-O-Matic since she is sick of being short and is sure that this device will do the trick. She is suspended from the ceiling in the complicated contraption when flabbergasted Gollie walks in. The whole thing comes crashing down, but Bink comes up with a creative way to fix the machine and feel tall at the same time. In "Kudos, Bink and Gollie," the friends decide to become famous by appearing in Flicker's Arcana of the Extraordinary, a Guinness Book of World Records-type compilation. Figuring that some sort of collection will land them in the book, they head off to Eccles' Empire of Enchantment. They buy 100 packages of 66 gold stickers each that they are sure is their ticket to fame. The plan doesn't pan out, but the clever duo comes up with a face-saving solution. The first story would make a fun read-aloud, as it lends itself to using alternately haughty and exasperated voices. All three stories feature Fucile's expressive and attitude-filled line drawings. Another humorous selection for those just beginning to dip into chapter books.—Diane McCabe, John Muir Elementary, Santa Monica, CA

School Library Journal

Fans of Bink and Gollie will be pleased to welcome them back in three more humorous linked adventures that, as in their earlier appearances, play off their differences but ultimately affirm their mutual affection. First, Gollie has dreams of grandeur that don't impress Bink a bit--and don't quite work out as she hopes. Next, Bink succumbs to the siren song of an advertisement for an unusual device that promises to make her grow. It succeeds, after a fashion, but doesn't actually change the status quo. Finally, the two girls seek fame and glory through (relatively) traditional means but wind up deciding to use a different measure of success when their plans don't pan out. At the end, of course, they discover what readers already know: Friendship is the best prize of all. Fucile's digital artwork extends both the humor and the broad appeal. With wide-eyed, smiling characters, crisp black outlines and exaggerated details, they're reminiscent of (really good) old-fashioned Saturday-morning cartoons. They also offer lots of entertaining elements to linger over, including visual references to earlier exploits, clever use of color to keep the focus clearly on the two main characters and sly jokes to supplement the amusing wordplay. There may be no new ground broken, but there is still another bumper crop of fun to be had with these two BFFs. (Early reader. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews