A Review of Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

I don't always buy books straight off of blog reviews, but I have to say, Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 raved about this one in a far louder voice than you'll generally hear in her more enthusiastic reviews, and I was dying to see what all the fuss was about.

So, wow: she's really, really right!

This is the best team of lovingly mismatched friends since Frog and Toad; or, leapfrogging (heehee) to more recent standouts, since Elephant and Piggie. But why stop there? Starsky and Hutch, step aside. Oscar and Felix, forget it. You've got to meet Bink and Gollie!

Bink is a short, dandelion-haired girl, certainly the more sloppy and impulsive partner in this little duo. She looks like she's about 6. Gollie is much taller, built on Olive Oyl lines, and appears to be somewhere between 8 and 10. Gollie is more elegant in her speech as well as her appearance, and her statements are sometimes misunderstood by Bink, who lacks the vocabulary or even the syntax to follow Gollie's more erudite pronouncements. Yet Gollie clearly appreciates Bink's enthusiasm and loyalty. In fact, when these authors tell a tale of jealousy, it's the more reflective and mature Gollie who turns green, not passionate Bink.

Here's how we first meet the twosome, presented split screen. Each is wielding a cell phone—Bink on a chair with a jar of peanut butter nestled between her crossed legs and a sticky spoon in her other hand, Gollie lounging on a couch reading a book even as she talks:

"Hello, Gollie," said Bink.
"What should we do today?"

"Greetings, Bink," said Gollie.
"I long for speed."

After a page turn, Gollie adds, "Let's roller-skate!" Then we see the girls on a bench putting their skates on. Gollie sits up, lacing her skates neatly, while Bink lies on her back, tackling her laces with great and semi-effectual concentration.

I should note that, like Frog and Toad, Bink and Gollie live in their own homes, with nary an adult in sight. We don't see the houses till page 15, when we discover that Gollie lives in a Streamline Moderne tree house, while Bink lives at the foot of the same tree in a cottage that appears to have been built by the architectural firm of the Three Little Pigs.

Easy reader Bink and Gollie is divided into three episodic chapters. In the first, "Don't You Need a New Pair of Socks?" Bink buys a pair of "outrageously bright socks" that offend Gollie's sensibilities.

"Bink," said Gollie, "the brightness of those socks pains me. I beg you not to purchase them."
"I can't wait to put them on," said Bink.

The situation soon turns into an epic battle involving pancakes. Naturally.

In "P.S. I'll Be Back Soon," we learn that Gollie has her own share of imagination. She is playing a game where she chooses a country from a globe and then explores it—in her living room. ("'The finger has spoken,' said Gollie.") A note on her door addressed "To whom it may concern" warns that she is unavailable right now. Bink proceeds to knock on the door. The notes get increasingly firm, and so does Bink's determination to enter the premises and see what her friend is up to.

In "Give a Fish a Home," Bink brings home a goldfish. She's so enamored of her new pet that she doesn't notice Gollie's towering three's-a-crowd jealousy. Which starts off like this:

"Bink," said Gollie, "I must inform you that you are giving a home to a truly unremarkable fish."
"I love him," said Bink.

This book is not for the very beginning reader. It is closer to the reading level of Frog and Toad, and some parents might object to the inclusion of "big words" like "inform" and "unremarkable." I would argue that 6- and 7-year-olds will get into the spirit of Gollie's personality and will learn some cool new words while they're at it. In fact, kids that age often get a kick out of knowing "big words." Besides, the context carries the narrative along, aided concisely by the illustrations.

The success of Bink and Gollie is just as dependent on Tony Fucile's amazing artwork as it is on its DiCamillo-and-McGhee-crafted language. Much of the art is rendered in black-and-white (emphasis on the white), but the two girls and their clothes and the occasional detail are presented in color. You could argue that this approach hints that the setting is somehow imaginary, but why spoil things? I prefer to believe it's just a way of highlighting our main characters. And they deserve highlighting, if only for their apt and personable facial expressions.

I'll admit, my humor runs to the wry and dry, which is what's going on here, but I have trouble imagining the reader—young or old—who won't enjoy getting to know Bink and Gollie one way or another. The contrast between the two girls, coupled with their obvious affection, is heartwarming without being a bit schmaltzy. I highly recommend this book.

Update: See also Jules's post at Seven Imp, which shows more of the artwork.

Shelley Moore Thomas's Good Knight

There are a lot of forgettable easy readers out there, unfortunately. Notable exceptions include Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books, which are brilliantly written, though they may feel a little quiet for some of today's kids; Dr. Seuss's easy readers, such as the iconic Green Eggs and Ham; James Marshall's Fox books; and Mo Willems's Elephant and Piggie books, those shiny new masterpieces. Joanna Cole's Bony Legs is a marvelous easy reader retelling the Baba Yaga story. I've had older students and boys like that one, probably because it's a little scary. And speaking of scary, Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories is another good easy reader, especially for boys. Two more classic easy readers are P.D. Eastman's Are You My Mother? and Nancy Gurney's The King, the Mice and the Cheese, while Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop and Eastman's Go Dog. Go! are the easiest of the classics I recommend. (The latter is surprisingly long. It should be read in sections and thoroughly savored.)

Another series I adore for this group of readers is Jonathan London's Froggy books. They're not billed as easy readers, but with a little support, they make a nice transitional tool. The first book, Froggy Gets Dressed, is still my favorite, with its wonderful onomatopoeia and its call-and-response between Froggy and his mother.

Anyway, I recently came across Shelley Moore Thomas's Good Knight books and have happily added them to my repertoire of worthwhile easy readers, particularly for boys. The first book was no doubt inspired by a play on words: Good Night, Good Knight. We start off with an introduction to three dragons, but they're not quite the dragons you might expect:

Once there were three little dragons. They lived in a dark cave. The cave was in a dense forest. The forest was in a faraway kingdom. The poor little dragons were very lonely in their deep dark cave.

And where you have dragons, of course you have a knight. But he's not what you'd expect, either. Then again, the dragons throw him off his game:

He came to the deep dark cave. Inside he saw the first little dragon. "What's this?" he asked. "Methinks it is a dragon!" And he drew his shimmery, glimmery sword. The dragon had on his jammies. He was all ready for bed. "Oh good. You have come," said the dragon. "Could you bring me a drink of water? Please. Then I can go to sleep."

Yep, the Good Knight soon finds himself acting as a sort of guardian to three little dragons. Basically, all of his adventures consist of dealing with the trouble the dragons get into. After he puts them to bed with various complications in the first book, we find him taking care of sick dragons in Book Two. ("Methinks I heard a sneeze," said the Good Knight.) He ends up getting help from a wizard, and then from his mother.

Our hero celebrates his birthday with his three charges in the third book, Happy Birthday, Good Knight. He doesn't guess why the dragons want his help coming up with a present for someone special, and their attempts to make a gift result in more than one mess. Three little dragons can use an amazing amount of glue when making a birthday card!

Books Four and Five switch to a picture book format, so I guess I'm cheating here, but maybe your reader will be able to practice in a slightly tougher format with your help. Take Care, Good Knight is the story about what happens when three little dragons attempt to pet sit for an old, old wizard. But when an old, old wizard leaves you a note telling you how to care for his seven cats and you can't actually read, you're bound to misinterpret his drawings and make some mistakes. Fortunately, the Good Knight is willing to act in an advisory capacity after the cats are put in a cupboard, among other mishaps.

The author's most recent book is A Cold Winter's Good Knight, in which it's too cold for the dragons to stay in their cave, so the Good Knight brings them to the castle. However, there's a ball in progress and the dragons have no idea how to behave. They raise a ruckus as the knight repeatedly tries to instruct them in castle etiquette.

Jennifer Plecas's line drawings, with their bug-eyed baby dragons and their slightly harassed-looking knight, suit this series like a good coat of armor. While her work has a cartoonish feel, the loose lines bring it back into the realm of illustration. It's a nice balancing act.

If you have a kindergartner or first grader at home who's done with Green Eggs and Ham and wondering what to read next, give this series a try. The combination of the author's sense of humor with the fresh premise of a knight fostering baby dragons makes it a charming alternative for the easy reader crowd.

Update: The author dropped by this post and let us know she has a new Good Knight book coming out next year, so look for it!