FICTION

Alone!

Pavilion/Anova/. Mar. 2021. 32p. Tr $16.95. ISBN 9781843654858.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1–Reminiscent of Ann McGovern’s Too Much Noise, this rhyme is about redheaded, white, antisocial Billy McGill who enjoys living alone. The boy’s house is on top of a hill where he lives peacefully until the day he hears a mouse. In order to rid his quiet home of the pest, Billy goes into town and brings back a cat. But, since the cat likes to play chase with the mouse, Billy decides a dog is needed. Perfectly scanning rhymes tell of assault after assault on Billy’s peace: a Black veterinarian, planning to cure a tiger’s cold by knitting him a sweater, a brown-skinned hairdresser who’s there to shear the sheep, and a winsome brown baby who will not stop crying. Billy finds even more solitude in a spot where it’s all a bit too silent. Humorous brightly hued illustrations fill the pages with color and movement while the text changes in size and shape adding to the engaging tale.
VERDICT Readers will love the tumultuous crescendo of Billy’s circumstances and then his tidy, peace-inducing solution in this entertaining story of unexpected consequences.

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