Tuesday, Dec. 08, 2009
Duck Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
My college professor, the late novelist Frederick Busch, always talked about the importance of perspective in creative writing. Well, here's the definitive picture-book primer on perspective. Each illustration when viewed from left to right is a rabbit. "Those are ears, silly," says the rabbit supporter. But look at the illo from right to left — and behold the duck! "See, there's his bill," counters the duck advocate. The illustrations are clean, without a wasted brushstroke. And just when the unseen combatants come around to the other's point of view, another ambiguous animal arrives on the scene — (spoiler alert!) "Hey, look! An anteater!" "That's no anteater. That's a brachiosaurus."