Tippy and the Night Parade (Toon Books Level 1)

Carre (Heads or Tails) brings her talents to a younger audience with the story of a girl's somnambulism and the chaos it creates. Except for a few scenes bathed in the pale oranges of sunset and sunrise, Carre uses a palette of steely gray-blues as bedheaded Tippy strides out the front door--eyes closed, and the trace of a smile on her lips. Tippy narrates in suppositional speech bubbles (she's a sleep-talker, too). "Maybe I walked out into the garden," she muses, doing just that as a protective crab clings to her nightgown, "because I wanted to hop across the lily pads." As Tippy wanders through Carre's panels, falling down a "big hole" and emerging in a cactus patch, she acquires a train of animals that leave her bedroom in disarray. "What is this mess?" her mother shouts the next morning. "I don't know, Mama," Tippy replies as a goat chews on her hair. "All I remember... is falling asleep!" Carre's curvy cartoons brim with quirky humor, and although Tippy is unconscious throughout her adventure, it's evident that she's the sort of girl whose waking life is plenty interesting, too. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)

K-Gr 3--This quirky comic for early readers offers simple panels with easy-to-find details and monochromatic color schemes-orange for the day and shades of blue for the night. When Tippy wakes in the morning, her room is a mess of shells, plants, and animals that have somehow found their way into her house. Readers will be able to guess at the answer as the girl recounts what could have happened: she sleepwalks outdoors, seemingly taking a night stroll, and gathers a following of animals who watch over her throughout her nocturnal adventure. Consistent with the Toon Book line, tips for reading comics with children appear in the back matter. Carre's retro and dreamy illustrations readily lend themselves to visual literacy practices: kids can "ham it up" with sound effects (bumps, scrapes, and animal sounds), and parents and educators can let children guess about the context of the pictures.--Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library