Argus (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Argus Deborah Stevenson Knudsen, Michelle. Argus; illus. by Andréa Wesson. Candlewick, 2011. [32p.] ISBN 978-0-7636-3790-3 $15.99 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs. It's chick-hatching season for Sally's class, but Sally's oversized, polka-dotted egg doesn't look like any of the others ("Don't be difficult," says her teacher, Mrs. Henshaw. "Some eggs just look different"). It doesn't hatch like them either, producing a dragony creature with unusual growth patterns and a tendency to try to eat the other chicks—and the students. Dismayed though Sally may be at the strangeness of her chick, whom she names Argus, she's surprised to find herself distraught when Argus goes missing. Audiences will relish the dry humor in the narrative, with Argus' dragony habits continuing to make him the odd chick out even as nobody ever acknowledges—or perhaps realizes—his dragonhood. Mrs. Henshaw's unflappable management style clearly sets the tone (when Argus is finally retrieved from a neighbor's yard, she firmly tells the owner of the destroyed lawn, "Don't [End Page 243] be difficult"), and kids will see their own practically omnipotent teachers in her; they'll also wish they too could have a classroom dragon. The line-and-watercolor illustrations depict a world that's energetic but largely—perhaps even a tad blandly—normal save for the green dragon that gallops through it. Compositions are airy and spacious, linework is slender and curvy, colors are gently pastel; while the kids (who look a little old for this kind of classroom) basically all share the same face, a taste for decorative headbands distinguishes our heroine. Though the point about accepting difference may be somewhat undercut by the sheer delight of the prospect of hatching out a dragon, this will be a spirited diversion for kids unimpressed by the magic of hatching chicks and hoping for school surprises. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois