Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 04/01/2013 K-Gr 3—This charmer is lovingly composed as an homage to silent movies and the concept of picture books as the "theater of the lap." Readers will become totally involved as they watch, along with several chicks, a drama unfolding, certain to end in tragedy. A gentlemanly fox and a demure, peasantlike goose meet. The setting is an old European city reminiscent of Budapest or Amsterdam, replete with fin de siècle gas lamps, stone-arch bridges, and wrought-iron terraces, executed in signature matte hues and strong lines (the chicks, though, are bright yellow). Heightened expressions dramatize their meeting, and it is desire at first sight. "What luck! Dinner!" reads the ornate intertitle (white type on a black background) on the following spread. In this way, the well-mannered fox proposes a series of formal invitations, "Would you care to…," leading the goose step-by-step into his "nearby kitchen." It is a study in pacing. Each time the goose accepts, "Hmm…sure!"; "Sounds fun!" again via intertitles, the action stops and the baby geese cry out (and flap) more and more trepidatiously: "That is NOT a good idea!" Young listeners will get involved and cry out, too. The wily goose's actions, defying common sense, arrive at an absolutely unexpected and riotous surprise ending. Children and adults will relish being taken for such a thrilling, suspenseful ride again and again.—Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 06/01/2013 Silent films are the inspiration for Mo Willems’ new outing, with a cast of players including “Hungry Fox, Plump Goose, and Baby Geese.” When Hungry Fox and Plump Goose lock eyes across a picturesque cobblestoned street, it’s love at first sight. Or is it? The fox invites the goose for a stroll, then asks her into the “deep, dark woods” and then into his “nearby kitchen,” which delights the goose; the goslings, however, interject a warning (“That is NOT a good idea!”) that gets stronger by a “really” with each new step toward vulnerability. The joke’s on the fox-and the first-time reader-however, as the goose turns out to have been luring the fox into the soup pot all along, and it’s the fox to whom her goslings have been issuing a sportsmanlike warning. The cinematic layout balances silent-movie dialogue slides, white text on black backgrounds with flourish-touched borders, with full-page scenes of Fox and Goose and zoomed round-bordered close-ups of Goose, seemingly innocently eyeing the camera; the goslings’ warnings are intercut like warnings from a Greek chorus, albeit a comically fuzzy yellow Greek chorus. Kids will clamor for a re-viewing and be pleased to note that the book cleverly sets itself up for the story going either way. This is also a delight to voice, with the goslings particularly enjoyable to act out, so you could easily draft kids to handle the warnings themselves or set this up as a dramatic piece. DS - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 05/15/2013 If anyone is going to pull off a picture book built on the conventions of old-time silent movies—exaggerated facial expressions, telling body language, and, of course, blacked-out dialogue pages cut into the story—it would be Willems. The setup is classic dastardly villain and innocent naïf, as a three-piece-suited, top-hatted, grinning fox catches the eye of a sweet, old babushka-wearing duck. Dinner! He asks if she’d like to go for a stroll in the deep, dark forest to his kitchen, where he’s making a pot of soup that’s missing only one last ingredient. At each step of the way, an increasingly frantic litter of chicks warns That is really, really, really, really not a good idea! By the time the story reaches its peak, you can practically hear the Wurlitzer throbbing, and kids will be squirming with tense glee, primed for a classic Willems gotcha that turns the whole thing on its head for the poor, unsuspecting fox. A quick, crowd-pleasing lark that should be a hit at group storytime. High-Demand Backstory: Willems, Willems Willems! And as much as everyone loves Elephant and Piggie, fans will be pleased to have a new offering in a picture-book format. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.