Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780618777082]

Dodsworth in New York

by Tim Egan

Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780618777082]

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Starred Review. This droll stand-alone chapter book picks up where Egan's picture book The Pink Refrigerator left off, as Dodsworth, the formerly complacent mouse, prepares for adventure: He wanted to see the world. But first, he wanted breakfast. Dodsworth drops by the bistro from Egan's debut, Friday Night at Hodges' Café, to order pancakes. But there he encounters Hodges's notoriously crazy duck, a plain white quacker with a yellow bill, yellow feet and steady gaze, who flings flapjacks at him until Hodges mercifully intervenes. Later, in a quaint sleeper car headed for Manhattan, Dodsworth opens his suitcase and discovers a stowaway—the duck. When they arrive and the duck hops on the subway, Dodsworth feels glad to be rid of him, then realizes he must retrieve Hodges's pet. Dodsworth inadvertently gets a grand tour as the duck takes a ferry to the Statue of Liberty ( 'Why would a duck take a boat?' he wondered), poses artfully at the Museum of Modern Art and takes a bus to Coney Island. Egan favors a palette of golds and clay-browns, and draws pillowy shapes in a gentle, never rigid line. For his nostalgic New York, he borrows scenery and fashions from the '40s and earlier. His polite cows, pigs and bears stroll the boulevards in suits and hats, making the unclothed, uncouth duck seem all the more delinquent. Egan keeps the hijinks low-key, preferring long pauses and slow burns to nutty slapstick, and spotlighting Dodsworth, the perfect screwball-comedy foil to Hodges's daffy duck. Ages 6-10. (Sept.)

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School Library Journal :

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K-Gr 3—In this humorous story, an unspecified animal named Dodsworth sets off to have an adventure. Before boarding a train to New York City, he stops to eat breakfast and say goodbye to his friend Hodges, a character previously encountered in Egan's Friday Night at Hodges' Cafe (Houghton, 1994). Later, on the train, Dodsworth opens his trunk and out pops Hodges's crazy duck. Dodsworth intends to send the stowaway back when they reach the Big Apple; instead, he ends up chasing it around the city. Egan slyly involves readers in admiring how the runaway inventively stays one step ahead of his pursuer; humorous scenes show the duck hiding in a window display, pretending to be part of a sculpture, and even jumping out of a magician's hat. The expressive ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture the comic aspects of the text; in one amusing depiction the duck lies with his wings behind his head and legs crossed atop a pile of Dodsworth's clothing, telling his angry host, "Whoa...calm down there, partner." Other colorful illustrations show animal characters flying kites, shopping, and playing instruments. Even the predictable ending waggishly fits the story. Sporting an inviting cover, this first chapter book will delight newly launched readers.—Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA

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Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 0618777083] Book Review
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Some books for beginning readers are bland, but not this one, which stars Dodsworth, a fedora-and-scarf-wearing mouse. In his previous outing, The Pink Refrigerator (2007), Dodsworth started out as a layabout; now he craves adventure. But first he wants breakfast, so he motorbikes to Hodges' Cafe. Hodges owns a duck that happens to be crazy. Therefore, Dowdsworth isn't thrilled when he opens his suitcase during his train ride to New York and the duck jumps out, claiming, like Dodsworth, to be looking for excitement. Dodsworth gets rid of the duck in the city, but he immediately feels guilty. Then the hunt is on, as Dodsworth tries to track down the duck, who has managed to lose himself on the city's mean streets. Known for his quirky books, Egan does himself proud here. The chase goes on a bit too long, but the deadpan drawings work particularly well juxtaposed against the hurly-burly action of the text. The story will be fun for new readers, and it will also work well as a read-aloud. Cooper, Ilene.

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