★ 11/09/2015
With his gleaming white teeth, Alan the Alligator has the run of the jungle. “Bwa-ha-ha! I love being scary,” he cackles as he stomps around like a latter-day Godzilla, while the other animals “eek,” “squawk,” and hide in panic. But Alan has a deep secret: his teeth are false. And after that secret gets out, a deeply embarrassed Alan (“My teeth! Wheah ah my teeth?” he shouts, gummily) doesn’t get much sympathy from those he terrorized. A zebra can’t change his stripes, but can a chastened alligator revamp his modus operandi? Jarvis (Lazy Dave) strikes a brisk, matter-of-fact tone that’s spot-on for his overconfident, inconsiderate hero, and he ties up the loose ends of the story with a clever best-of-both-worlds twist. His pictures are even better: working in pencil, chalk, paint, and digital color, he gives each image a striking aesthetic density, with translucent layers, hand-drawn texturing, and lush color combinations redolent of batik and collage. They’re gorgeous—and thanks to his accomplished cartooning, they’re funny, too. Ages 2–5. Agency: Bright Agency. (Feb.)
The witty Jarvis (“Lazy Dave”) makes all the right moves, drawing Alan’s jungle world with his usual loose, jagged charm.
—The New York Times Book Review
Jarvis (Lazy Dave) strikes a brisk, matter-of-fact tone that’s spot-on for his overconfident, inconsiderate hero, and he ties up the loose ends of the story with a clever best-of-both-worlds twist. His pictures are even better...They’re gorgeous—and thanks to his accomplished cartooning, they’re funny, too.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A strength of the illustrations lies in the ability to convey emotion...
—Kirkus Reviews
This strong debut picture book will leave young listeners and librarians alike hungry for the author’s next offering. A perfect choice for storytime.
—School Library Journal
This book invites interaction with the story and plenty of action and noise as Alan makes his way through the jungle and on to a new identity. There is a nice message about being a friend as the story draws to a close. This is a good title for primary collections and collections that need strong, artistic storytelling on their shelves.
—School Library Connection
Digitally colored illustrations in pencil, chalk, and paint portray Alan as more of a goofball than a menace, while the jungle animals blend into the background—a good precaution with an alligator neighbor. The reformation of a bully is a familiar story, but Alan’s version is nicely told, and the eventual outcome is especially enjoyable.
—Booklist Online
A hilarious, cautionary tale with a wonderful conclusion on kindness, this imaginative story will have kids in stitches.
—Books to Borrow...Books to Buy (column from Kendal A. Rautzhan)
01/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—Alan the alligator fancies himself to be the most fearsome creature in the jungle, but he's hiding a secret that could change his whole image. Every day, he polishes his scales, brushes his scary teeth one by one, and practices his frightening faces in the mirror. Then, he sneaks up on the frogs, monkeys, and parrots and scares them silly. At the end of the day, Alan luxuriates in his victorious scare tactics, but eventually he has to get real with himself; Alan has false teeth! He keeps his secret safe by storing his chompers in a special hiding place where Barry the Beaver eventually finds them by mistake. When Alan wakes up to find his teeth are missing, he attempts to launch his scaring spree as usual but is laughed at by the other animals. This makes him cry. Alan's wails continue through the night, and by morning all of the animals are on board to return his teeth, though they have drafted a few rules for how he can use them moving forward. Vibrant pencil, chalk, and paint illustrations colored digitally are preschool-friendly and maximize the humor in the text by providing little details for readers to delight in, such as Alan's taste in reading materials and his full line of grooming products. The simple yet effective expressions the animals display throughout the story are no doubt inspired by the author's work in animation, which contributes to this story's success as a read-aloud. This strong debut picture book will leave young listeners and librarians alike hungry for the author's next offering. VERDICT A perfect choice for storytime.—Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
2015-11-25
A vain, toothy alligator learns a lesson. Alan is an alligator who thinks very well of himself. Every morning he shines his scales, sharpens his claws, and, most importantly, brushes his impressively "big, scary teeth" (each act of preening is shown sequentially). After his primping rituals, Alan scares the small jungle creatures by snapping his teeth and making various scary noises. Jarvis effectively communicates the jungle setting through a textured, layered green background. The big reveal comes at the end of Alan's fright-filled day, when readers learn his lovely chompers are false. Though this discovery—given that Alan's love of his beautiful, dangerous teeth is so evident—may elicit some laughs, the rest of the story falls flat. What remains is predictable: Alan's teeth are stolen, he's laughed to scorn by the creatures who previously feared him, and eventually has his teeth restored to him when he promises a sea change. His lisping, toothless speech is, sadly, played for laughs. A strength of the illustrations lies in the ability to convey emotion (notably Alan's sad silhouettes after losing his teeth). However, the humor is both lacking and reliant on stereotype, and the story's predictability makes it an also-ran. Lackluster. (Picture book. 3-6)
