Reviews: (by author)

Blair Lent. Ruby and Fred. New York: Holt, 2000. ISBN 0-8050-6117-7. $16.00.

With its funny, colorful pictures, this book is a good example of the simple fact that illustrations alone do not make a good picturebook. There must be a story as well, and preferably the words should not tell exactly the same story as the pictures, if the reader's imagination is to be involved. I find the storyline lacking any interest, the characters without appeal, and the language so primitive that it is almost an insult to the reader. If all this is deliberate, I didn't get it.

Reviewed by Maria Nikolajeva

Back to Reviews L-Q