Up and Down

Starred review from November 1, 2010
Jeffers revisits Lost and Found (2006), his sweet, muted story of friendship between a penguin and a boy, and he finds equal success with the same mild characters, understated humor, washes of watercolor and succinct, soft narration. Again, empathy emerges as elemental to this interspecies friendship, as the boy tries to help the penguin in his futile efforts to fly. Many failed attempts leave the two looking for answers at a circus, where they inadvertently lose track of each other. A quiet tone balances a relatively action-packed adventure: The penguin finally finds flight as he's shot out of a cannon, and the boy, just having learned his whereabouts, rushes to catch him. Serene white backdrops highlight brilliant compositional choices, while full-page spreads of unconfined color depict dramatic moments with subtle force. Children will intuit, absorb and appreciate this soothing book's heart—the fast, offbeat friendship that makes it so singular and appealing. (Picture book. 2-6)

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Starred review from December 1, 2010

K-Gr 2-Once upon a time, in a book called Lost and Found (Philomel, 2006), a penguin appeared at a small boy's doorstep. Since that adventure, in which the two traveled to the South Pole in a rowboat, the boy has crash-landed his plane on the moon and rocketed into space to catch a star. In this installment, the fearless, practical, and sympathetic child-drawn as a circle (head), square (striped shirt), and two lines (legs)-is back with his penguin friend. They play Telephone, Parcheesi, and tuba-guitar duets-until the penguin decides that he must learn to fly. "He did own wings after all, although they didn't seem to work very well. But that didn't stop the penguin trying." Quirky watercolor illustrations enrich the plot with examples-e.g., increasingly large balloons tied around the bird's middle, or the penguin leaping from a desk chair mounted atop a dresser while the boy sets out a pillow for a landing pad. A chance sighting of a circus help-wanted poster takes the penguin off on his own and both friends must follow exciting, suspenseful, and wistful paths back to one another. Jeffers has an endearing, deceptively simple style that will warm the hearts of children and adults. An expert draughtsman and a gifted colorist, he creates artwork that is as masterful as it is eccentric. (Devoted readers will be delighted to find pictorial references to his earlier books.) His peculiar plots combine with a saccharine-free sensitivity to the nuances of friendship, making this book just plain special.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY

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