If Wendell Had a Walrus

PreS-Gr 1--Wendell is a persistent and imaginative child. After seeing a walrus-shaped cloud, he spends the day wondering just what it would be like to have a real walrus for a friend. They would do all the things regular friends do: tell jokes, climb trees, build forts. But as it turns out, it's not easy to buy a walrus at the pet store. Wendell figures out a way to approach one directly, via a message in a bottle. Little does he know, a potential friend has been nearby the whole time. The whimsical pencil-and-watercolor illustrations provide eagle-eyed readers the hint of a parallel story--a boy who has seen a whale in the clouds will be that perfect companion. Mortensen brings them together as they each wait for their bottled messages to be answered. "'Walrus?' asks Wendell. 'Whale', says the boy." And a match is made. Phelan's art is a perfect complement to Mortensen's text; what she leaves out of the narrative, he provides in the illustrations, each with a light and whimsical touch. VERDICT A breezy and lovely ode to friendship and imagination. Recommended for larger collections.--Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence

A number of the most beloved tales feature enchantingly oversized animal companions. In Mortensen's (Chicken Lily) latest, protagonist Wendell has a walrus friend who meets these qualifications yet exists in Wendell's imagination. Wendell imagines exchanging silly riddles with his walrus ("What do walruses like to chew?" "Blubber gum"), drawing pictures together, and making forts with cardboard; they'd have "the most stupendiferous, cosmically colossal best time of their lives." Light, soft lines and gently tinted artwork by Phelan (Snow White) suggest otherwise as the walrus's big tusks skewer Wendell's drawings and his sheer bulk makes kite-flying difficult. When Wendell throws a friendly invitation in a bottle into the sea and discovers another boy standing on the next rock over, his curiosity is piqued. "Walrus?" asks Wendell. "Whale," says the boy, named Morrell. In the end, it turns out that Morrell is exactly the friend Wendell has been looking for all along--and he doesn't have any pesky tusks. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Liza Voges, Eden Street. Illustrator's agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Apr.)