Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 10/01/2017 *Starred Review* This new entry in the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading series offers a clever premise, witty wordplay, and intriguing art. Introduced by Elephant and Piggie (who also appear in several interspersed cameos), Collier’s story features a young African American girl selecting just the right shoes to wear on an outing with Dad. The girl and her anthropomorphized foot coverings, ranging from pointe shoes to sneakers to bedroom slippers, narrate the story in succinct word-balloon captions (“We are afraid . . . Knot!”). Each pair of shoes begs to be picked, and her final decision—one boot and one flip-flop—causes great consternation (“WE are not a pair”), leading to humorous commentary: “You are not a banana either.” Collier’s artwork makes use of vivid colors, resulting in shoes that seem to jump off the page. A few black backgrounds effectively convey the darkened closet, and variously hued speech balloons help beginning readers keep track of individual speakers. Comic panels and motion lines are used occasionally, but most pages use traditional picture-book conventions. Collier’s final spread depicts the girl and her dad (wearing equally mismatched footwear) standing in a maze that pays homage to Willems’ Pigeon. Buy multiple copies and prepare for a stampede. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1— Anthropomorphic shoes clamor to be selected by a girl preparing for a "Daddy-and-Me day!" They are dismayed that she picks a boot and a flip-flop, "You did not choose matching shoes!" The shoes follow her out the door and realize that her choice is okay when they see that her father is wearing two different shoes, too. This tale of love and individuality is peppered with puns: the high-tops say, "That was sneaky!" and the left sneaker says to its mate, "You are right. You are always Right." Elephant says, "OH NO! LEFT LEFT RIGHT!" He laughingly says, "Both the GIRL's and the DAD's shoes did not match!" And Piggie replies, "But they did go together! JUST LIKE US! We make a fun pair." Collier's distinguished art portrays a brown-skinned girl who, throughout the story, bears expressions of contemplation, joy, and finally tentativeness as she greets her father. Dad chips through the ice with his greeting, "Hi, you! Nice shoes!" His brown boot, yellow low-top combo brightens the mood of his daughter, and readers, too. The cast of footwear is expressive, sporting unique eyes—flip-flops wear sunglasses, slippers' sleepy eyes are slits, and they all have wry smiles. This is a fabulous addition to the "Elephant and Piggie" series. VERDICT This book is just right for beginning readers and won't be left on the shelf for long.— Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.