Oddrey and the New Kid

August 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 2-Oddrey is sure she and the new girl will become great friends. Maybelline jumps right in, regaling her classmates with exciting escapades she claims to have experienced with her father and becoming a leader on the playground. On a class trip to the zoo, Oddrey reaches her limit and begins to question Maybelline's veracity. Maybelline decides to prove herself by swinging on a vine into an enclosure to save a monkey stuck in a tire. Oddrey quickly realizes that Maybelline is in trouble and jumps in to help her. The girls are successful but need to find a way to get back out. The illustrations show them climbing a giraffe, in the mud with hippos, and being chased by surprised warthogs. Once reunited with their class, Maybelline declares, "That was my best adventure yet." Oddrey concurs and doesn't object when Maybelline takes all the glory for herself. Savvy readers will get who the true hero of the story is, but may have a hard time understanding why Oddrey doesn't stick up for herself and why the other students don't tire of Maybelline's self-aggrandizing. Whamond's detailed illustrations are colorful and lively-much like the two main characters. Recommended for collections in which Oddrey (Owlkids, 2012) is popular.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
In Whamond's Oddrey's return, she must contend with a little touch of competition for the limelight. Oddrey is not so much a fruitcake as an original. She takes the path less traveled. Sometimes it feels a bit like attention-seeking behavior, though, to her credit, she seeks attention for all her friends and classmates, too. In this story, she comes up against not exactly a nemesis, but a serious rival: Maybelline. Maybelline has lots of wild tales--she and her father traveled the four corners to find ancient artifacts in dangerous situations--to wow her classmates. She has so many wild tales that Oddrey gets suspicious, and she isn't happy with Maybelline's bossy ways on the playground. Then comes a school visit to the zoo, and Oddrey is able to reassert her not only strange, but now heroic character. Although Whamond's artwork is a pleasing welter of colorful dabs and active lines, his story is achingly black and white. Readers know from the outset that poor Maybelline's comeuppance is a done deal--she is too snooty by half--so there will be no surprises here. And Oddrey is too self-conscious about being the maverick, which doesn't make her much of one; she is not a bohemian, she is a prima donna. For Oddrey to remain odd, she is going to have to hear the beat of a far different drummer. (Picture book. 4-7)

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