Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe

September 17, 2012
Edwards (The Cat’s Pajamas) uses a “House That Jack Built”–style verse as scaffolding for a series of enigmatic, beautifully drafted paintings. “This is Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe,” he begins. The laceup shoe is actually a shoe-car; it appears in every picture, passed mysteriously from one animal to the next. At the outset it sits surrounded by an admiring crowd of miniature toys and animals, including a baby alligator, several birds, and a kitten in striped pajamas who hops right in: “This is the kitten/ That drove around in Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe.” Visual elements—the striped pajamas, a tiger, the face of a king, a small airplane, and many more—proliferate, morph, and refer to themselves in endlessly imaginative ways, as when echoes of the tiger’s beard can be seen in the wings of a moth and again on the king on a playing card. As the rhyme circles around to the beginning, questions abound. Is the tiger, in fact, Uncle Wally? And if he dreamt the whole thing, who is the tiger in the dream? Much speculation will fuel re-readings. Ages 4–8.

September 15, 2012
Wallace, author of The Cat's Pajamas (2010), picks up where he left off, as the cover features a tiger sitting on a bed in splendid, red-and-white striped pajamas. On one foot is the old brown shoe that begins this often surreal but delightful fantastical romp. Faithfully adhering to the rhythm of the "House that Jack Built," the text introduces interesting things involved in actions or placed in settings that are unexpected. The shoe leads to introductions of a "bee with the smoochable lips," "the fish with the spooky mask" and "the dog with a musical flair" among others. Although the text is entertaining in itself, the illustrations beg to be pored over. On most spreads, the left page displays framed text and a circular portrait of the animal or object newly added to the story. On the right is a lush, detailed painting executed in watercolor, gouache and pencil. Readers' eyes will initially focus on what is referred to in the text but then wander into the dreamlike landscape, which is full of surprises that stretch the imagination. Is that a snow-capped mountain or ice cream? What are all of the green creatures in the flora doing? Why do some pages have puzzle pieces? The only constants are the shoe and "the button from the cat's pajamas / That rolled away into a dream... // And became a wheel on Uncle Wally's old brown shoe." Save for small groups or one-on-one sharing so readers can linger in this visual wonderland. (Picture book. 4-7)

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