Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Starred review from May 29, 2017
Rex (XO, OX: A Love Story) takes the conventional wisdom of the title and runs with it. He paints hands, feet, and antic cartoon faces on photos of fruit, sets them against brown-paper-bag backgrounds, then imagines them improvising a bunch of Burma Shave–style jingles in praise of fruit. An apple and a pear begin (“Who wouldn’t travel anywhere/ to get an apple or a pear?”), and a lonely orange watches the fun from the sidelines: “I’ll be back here if you need me,” it mutters. The rhymes grow ever more outrageous (“a lychee is just peachy./ Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche”) and the mayhem snowballs. Off in his corner, the orange seethes, especially after a pear bitten by a wolf becomes a pearwolf (“This book’s sorta gone off the rails,” it grumps). A big fruit party ensues (Nietzsche is there, so are yams for some reason), and the group finally acknowledges the orange with a rhyme all its own, nonsensical though it may be. A sly concept, deft artwork, and unflagging energy make this a winner. Ages 5–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from May 15, 2017
As page after page uses rhymes and puns to celebrate fruits, an orange, who is sadly aware of its nonrhyming name, provides commentary that encompasses a wide range of emotions--ending with a feeling of acceptance from the greater fruit community.Funny, clever, and whimsical text includes a plethora of both terminal and internal rhymes. The fruits are collaged photographs that have been anthropomorphized with inked-on limbs and facial expressions. The expressiveness of the faces--especially of the orange--provides an irresistible match to the text. A bold-lettered refrain celebrates fruit: "They're healthy happy colorful and cute!" The solitary orange gives various negative reactions to that litany and other verses, but readers will see through these defense mechanisms. Especially funny is the orange's response to "If you aren't a fan of cantaloupe, / then feed it to an antelope." Staring up at the large, black woodblock print of the animal, upon whose back teeters the eponymous melon, the orange comments, "Well, that was a little forced." Another treat (mostly for adults) is mustachioed Friedrich Nietzsche rhyming with "lychee" and "peachy." After the orange finally admits that the book about fruit is "amazing," a kind, observant apple brings the sulking citrus warmly into the group. Slight differences in typeface distinguish between the orange's dialogue and the rest of the text, cuing caregivers to change voices for a perfect read-aloud. Fruitful in every sense of the word. (Picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2017
Grades 1-3 As a chorusing parade of diverse fruits marches past ( Hit the beach in your cabana / With a peach or a banana ), an orange stands by, waiting diffidently for a call. But without a rhyme of its own, will Orange ever get a turn to shine? When the parade is joined by a certain philosopher whose name rhymes with peachy, and a rocking dance concert begins, the shriveled orange at last retreats to its own lonely, undecorated spread. But wait! In marches the apple, trailed by the rest, chanting It's the orange. He's really smorange. What does that mean? Totally awesome in every way, of course. Rex draws expressive faces and stick limbs on photographed images of luscious-looking produce, and squeezes out even more visual energy by choosing a big, casual, hand-lettered style of type for the jingles. Cheers for not only nutrition but for thinking outside the bowl to include the unfairly marginalized: They're healthy happy colorful and cute! / Fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit! (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)