Children's Literature
Anderson's colorful illustrations certainly have factored into the success of the Little Quack books, and they are likely to play a role popularizing this story which Anderson has authored and illustrated, too. Certainly Anderson has a way of showing expression in the turn of a beak or mouth as friends Romeo the Penguin and Lou the Polar Bear are propelled by a snowship rocket from ice floes into an urban landscape. Children are likely to greatly enjoy knowing better than the two characters as they mistake signposts for strange trees and two construction workers for walruses. It doesn't take long for the two to begin looking for a way to return home. They are able to do so thanks to a rocketship they construct out of a cardboard box. This book very playfully celebrates imaginative play and deserves a place in home or classroom libraries. Reviewer: Mary Hynes-Berry

 

From Booklist
Although real penguins and polar bears live poles apart, in this picture book fantasy Romeo (a penguin) and Lou (a polar bear) live together in an unspecified snowy locale. Dashing out of their house to play, they use the newly fallen snow to build a pretend rocket ship. Suddenly, it blasts off, transporting the terrified duo to what they believe is another planet, but children will recognize it as a city. After a series of amusing mistakes, they manage to stumble onto a ship bound for home. Although the story is a bit silly, children will enjoy the amusing mishaps and the feeling that they know more than these likable but naive travelers. From the unlikely plot to the color, clarity, and comic exaggeration of artwork, this picture book resembles an old-fashioned animated kids' cartoon. Brightly illustrated with acrylic paints, it offers an accessible, unpretentious tale of two innocents abroad who misinterpret unfamiliar sights according to what they know and somehow muddle through to a happy ending.
-Carolyn Phelan