Outfoxed

June 24, 2013
In this winning comedy from Twohy (Poindexter Makes a Friend), a duck escapes death by persuading a fox that he’s not a duck at all, but a dog. Framed panels with hand-lettered narration and dialogue tell the story, and Twohy’s urgent marker coloring heightens the fox’s initial nighttime heist and the duck’s efforts to save its neck. When the fox discovers that the “chicken” he’s snatched from the hen house isn’t actually a chicken, the duck stalls by trying all the dog behaviors he knows, slobbering on Fox’s coat, wagging his tail, and looking adorable. “Duck barks,” reads the next panel. “Bark! Bark! Bark! Quack, oops! Bark!” Then Fox brings in a wading pool. “I will trick Duck,” he says, one eye closed in malicious calculation. “If Duck swims, I will eat him.” Duck shuns the water and pees on the carpet. The psychic swordplay between the two adversaries segues from classic fairytale trajectory to a burgeoning story about the charms of dog ownership before ending with a zinger. Steady humor and skilled pacing make this a keeper. Ages 4–8. Agent: Elena Mechlin, Pippin Properties.

August 1, 2013
Cartoonist Twohy delivers lackluster laughs in this tale of a clever duck and not-too-bright fox. The story opens with confusingly scriptlike narration (without the benefit of a stage/screen setup) as a cloaked fox breaks into a chicken coop. Without looking, Fox grabs a hen and runs (strangely, on all fours, despite wearing a trench coat and sneakers on his find feet). Readers may be confused as to why Fox is on the run, but a page turn reveals the guard dogs on his tail. The thick-lined, comic book-esque illustrations depict Fox making a narrow escape and arriving home to discover he mistakenly bagged a duck. But Duck is not resigned to be dinner and goes about attempting to convince Fox that she is a dog in a protracted pantomime. Unsure, Fox tries to trick Duck into revealing her true nature and fails, returning Duck to her home the following day. Just as Fox returns to his den and begins to regret having given up a potential pet, he discovers his mistake. While this book may elicit laughs, the choppy pacing, grammatical shortcuts and confusing lack of direction as to what should be read first on a given page (the narration or the speech/thought bubbles?) will make for difficult read-alouds. A goose egg. (Picture book. 5-8)

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Starred review from August 1, 2013

K-Gr 2-If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...but wait, this white-feathered yellow-billed bird is barking like a dog, slobbering like a dog, chewing up socks like a dog. What gives? That's what Fox wants to know after he inadvertently grabs a duck out of the henhouse intent on enjoying a chicken dinner. But maybe a duck will do? Clever duck manages to avoid the cookpot by declaring, "You are mistaken, sir. I am NOT a DUCK!" and adopting a variety of classic doggy behaviors such as wagging her tail and peeing on the carpet. Finally, Fox relents and takes the "dog" back to the farm where she belongs, only to find a surprise in the house that blows the lid off the whole ruse. The hilarious illustrations sketched with marker and colored pencil are designed like large comic book panels and have a real slapstick appeal that is perfectly suited to the comedic text. Kids will love being in on the joke, and the large word bubbles make reading easy even for beginners. Don't be outfoxed. Get quacking and buy this book.-Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

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