Click! by Jeffrey Ebbeler (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Click! by Jeffrey Ebbeler Deborah Stevenson Ebbeler, Jeffrey Click!; written and illus. by Jeffrey Ebbeler. Holiday House, 2015 32p ISBN 978-0-8234-3295-0 $16.95 R 5-8 yrs When a boy turns off his bedside lamp, shaped like a kooky hat-wearing bird, that’s just the start of the adventure in this picture book narrated only by sound effects. The loyal bird/lamp hears a “drip, drop, drop” from down the hall, which is keeping the boy awake, and hunts for the source (in the light of his beam, of course). Finding a dripping faucet in the bathroom, he solves the problem, but then there are other house noises he must identify and ameliorate. Mission accomplished, he returns to the bedroom, only to find the boy’s beloved stuffed animal on the floor; he restores the toy to the sleeper, but all too soon the alarm goes “Rrrring!” and it’s morning again. The focus on sounds is both inventive and perceptive, since audiences will definitely recognize the way ambient noise is magnified in a dark room at night. It may take some viewers a minute to decode the bird’s purpose, but he’s clearly a helpful, if odd, critter even before his overall plan becomes clear. [End Page 20] The gleaming acrylics, surreally varying perspectives, and in-art text here recall David Shannon. There’s an edge of weirdness to the slightly personified household objects (buttons, nuts, and drawer pulls strongly suggest eyes) and to the occasionally vertiginous perspectives that’s suitable to the sudden strangeness of a familiar house in the middle of the night. The final sequence, which takes the boy through his day sound by sound in a series of lively panels, may encourage youngsters to think about their own daily sound narratives. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois