"Tell Madame Prunely what it is you seek."
"Truth," said Gollie.
"Food," said Bink.
Odd-couple friends, short Bink and tall Gollie, charmed readers from the start. Series debut Bink and Gollie won the 2010 Theodor Geisel award. This three-vignette companion book takes the endearing pair to the state fair with all its dubious attractions, including the possibility of winning "the world's largest donut."
The humor of Newbery author Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux) and Someday author Alison McGhee ranges from the unapologetically slapstick to the dryly understated. Bink and Gollie stand back to back on a city street, examining the State Fair posters that slather every available surface. Bink says, "Gollie, do you think we should go to the state fair?"
Finding Nemo animator Tony Fucile's cinematic, Jules Feiffer-like cartoonscapes effervesce with personality and contrast black-and-white with color to masterful effect. When Gollie gets stage fright at the talent show, she's a dwarfed spot of color at the end of a long b&w stretch of expectant onlookers. As color-splashed Bink and Gollie stand outside the green-cloaked Madame Prunely's fortune-telling tent (two for one special!), the wide-angle, shades-of-gray view of the state fair looks as atmospheric and emotionally charged as a David Lynch film. Bink's more impulsive, expressive self pulses with motion lines, kinetic hair and flamboyant gestures. Gollie is tidier and more contained in every possible way.
Vivacious design, winning illustrations and funny, fresh dialogue waltz harmoniously in this charming tribute to a friendship. --Karin Snelson, Seattle children's book editor