FICTION

The Society of Distinguished Lemmings

by Julie Colombet (text) & illus. by Julie Colombet
Peachtree. Mar. 2020. 40p. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781682631560.
COPY ISBN
Gr 1-3–Start with end pages depicting nearly 300 individual cartoon lemmings and you may commiserate with Bertie who is fed up with all the noise and high-brow social activities in the burrow. Upon his arrival aboveground, he meets a brown bear, who despite their initial preconceptions of each other’s darker nature, gives Bertie a friendly lick. Together, they paint, play chess, and jump in puddles. When the lemming’s relatives come up en masse, they examine the bear and find him lacking in social graces. On impulse, the chatty crowd decides to take a seaside vacation while Bertie and his friend read a history of lemming behavior. Bear rushes to rescue the hoard from drowning. They celebrate him and modify their collective’s title to “Society of Distinguished Lemmings and Bears.”
VERDICT This debut picture book requires multiple reads to absorb all of the humor in the various lemmings’ conversations and activities like dressing and packing. A quirky addition.
Reviewed by Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA , Jan 01, 2020

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