Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee

October 1, 2010
Mr. Magee's gone Down to the Sea and on A Camping Spree (2000, 2003), and now it's time for him to ski. In rhyming couplets, he and his little dog Dee head out for a practice run on a nearby hill. On go the skis (equipped with hysterically antique bindings to go with Mr. Magee's woolen knickers), into the backpack goes Dee and down the hill they go—straight at a moose. The ensuing slapstick is both predictable and very, very funny, with Mr. Magee and Dee limboing under the moose before they end up suspended, heads down, over a crevasse by the skis—across which the moose ambles. The pacing of both verse and shiny, retro illustrations excels, and Mr. Magee couldn't hope to find a prettier landscape to fall down in. (Picture book. 4-8)

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January 1, 2011

K-Gr 2-In his third outing, hapless Mr. Magee and his dog take up skiing. They decide to do a practice run close to home on a "great little hill with a view of the bay." As soon as he takes off, Mr. Magee realizes he doesn't know how to steer or stop. They are heading toward a very large moose who is too stunned to obey the polite request to step aside. Man and dog both duck and slide under the animal and between his legs. The skis snag on a log and man and dog upend over a ravine. Their skis form a bridge across the ravine and the moose uses this opportunity to get to the other side. His weight makes the skis sag and when he leaps off, they spring and flip Mr. Magee again, landing him on solid ground. He and his dog decide that skiing lessons are necessary and return home. The gouache illustrations are clean, crisp, and colorful. Various shades of blue, green, and purple nicely show the chill of the winter day. The rhyming text, with occasional bolded words, scans easily. Fans of Mr. Magee will feel at home with this one.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

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