Sorry

New collaborators Landa and Warnes (who is often paired with Julie Sykes) have created a picture book about friendship, jealousy, arguing and making things right again. The pictorial gimmick here is a Mylar balloon they find, which appears within the illustrations as a shiny and reflective foil element. Both want the balloon, which makes a very fine mirror. They squabble and - predictably - end up ripping it in half. Each storms home and admires himself in his fragment of Mylar, but soon the longing for friendship trumps the argument and all is well. A number of words in the text are produced in a much larger font than the rest. There appears TO be no RHYME or reason for THIS stylistic decision, forcing an awkward and unnatural reading-aloud experience. The illustrations are vintage Warnes - sweet, warmly colored and evocative - but this book about the testing of friendship remains strictly ADDITIONAL. (Picture book. 3-7) (Kirkus Reviews)