Oh No, Bobo! You’re in Trouble by Phil Gosier

Abstract

Reviewed by: Oh No, Bobo! You’re in Trouble by Phil Gosier Deborah Stevenson, Editor Gosier, Phil Oh No, Bobo! You’re in Trouble; written and illus. by Phil Gosier. Roaring Brook, 2019 [32p] ISBN 978-1-250-17683-7 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs Bobo, the little orange monkey, sneakily pilfers the zookeeper’s flashlight and then excitedly shows it off to his friend Fifi, the blue koala—until the flashlight breaks. Now Fifi is delightedly horrified, insisting “I HAVE to tell!” and taunting him that he’s in “BIG trouble” as a frantic Bobo scampers around the zoo. Fifi finally agrees not to tell in exchange for obsequious compliments, but when the zookeeper finds the flashlight and makes the simple repair of battery replacement, it’s Bobo who’s yelling at Fifi for putting him through the wringer over nothing. This is entertaining cartoon-type melodrama, with lots of little sound effects supporting the grand opera of Bobo’s zoo-spanning anguish; the interplay between Bobo’s large-scale histrionics and Fifi’s persnickety recriminations makes for a great two-character performance. Digital illustrations interweave the all-dialogue text into the art, with indicator lines, motion lines, and emotion emanata backgrounded by a lively comic zooscape populated with wide-eyed anthropomorphized animals. Audiences will adore the humorous dialogue and the brief breaking of the fourth wall; individual inclination will determine whether they sympathize more with Bobo or Fifi. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois