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CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 18 . . . . January 13, 2012
excerpt:
Big City Otto is award-winning author/illustrator Bill Slavin's first graphic novel. It is also the first title in the "Elephants Never Forget" graphic novel series from Kids Can Press. The premise of the series is that the elephant, Otto, is missing his chimpanzee friend, Georgie, who has been kidnapped from the jungle and, apparently, taken to America. Together with the help of his parrot friend, Crackers, Otto decides to set out for America in order to rescue his missing friend. It seems likely that each title in the series will take Otto and Crackers into different parts of America in search of Georgie. In this first title, the search finds Otto in a big urban setting, while the second title seems destined to take Otto to bayou country.
Big City Otto is 79 pages in length. Most pages consist of four or five panels. The panels often contain humour, as does the clever word play of the text. There is almost no third-person narration. Rather, the text is limited almost entirely to voice balloon utterances. This approach moves the book forward at a rapid pace. Young readers will be drawn to the series by the colourful artwork. Otto the faithful, caring, brave elephant (who happens to be allergic to peanuts) will entertain many and have them looking forward to a continuation of the series. Recommended. Gregory Bryan is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, where he specializes in literature for children.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca. Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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