Steve Goes to Carnival by Joshua Button

Abstract

Reviewed by: Steve Goes to Carnival by Joshua Button Deborah Stevenson, Editor Button, Joshua Steve Goes to Carnival; written by Joshua Button and Robyn Wells; illus. by Joshua Button. Candlewick, 2019 [56p] ISBN 978-1-5362-0034-8 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 4-6 yrs As the Rio zoo settles down for the night, keeper Antonio departs; Steve the gorilla, missing his friend, escapes his cage to go searching. A wide-brimmed yellow hat proves a miraculously effective disguise as Steve hops a tram into the city to find that it is “carnival time in Rio!” A festive Steve tracks Antonio down to a club, where he’s playing sax in the jazz quartet. Steve happily partners up with a beautiful dancer to cut a rug to his friend’s tune; when his hat falls off and he’s revealed as a gorilla, there’s a moment of surprise from the hostess, but his fellow dancer carries on without missing a beat and they dance the night away. This is a spirited spiritual descendant of Rathmann’s Good Night, Gorilla (BCCB 5/94) and Savage’s Where’s Walrus (BCCB 10/15) with an extra helping of Brazilian brio. Steve’s anthropomorphization, to the point of his being able to talk, raises some unanswered questions about his life in captivity, but it also makes for an entertaining joke as he passes unobserved among the humans via a disguise that makes Clark Kent’s glasses ruse seem impenetrable by comparison. Australian illustrator Button loves confident yet naïve lines, with a Picasso-esque air to his portraits and a touch of Gregory Christie in their poses. Painterly strokes (especially tactile on Steve himself) combine with digital touches of color for vibrant effect, and a trickly tracery of lines in a variety of colors compose zoo, city, and club behind our hero. It’s a vivacious and offbeat outing, and it’ll leave kids peering at fellow commuters in hope of a secret zoological identity. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois