The Adventure of Louey and Frank FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
Louey the rabbit and Frank the bear share an argumentative friendship, never agreeing on anything. When they embark on a sea journey in Carolyn White's The Adventure of Louey and Frank, the trip is sometimes funny and sometimes scary. Sailing away on a boat that consists of two shoes tied together and a sock for a sail, Frank and Louey come upon something big, blue, and humpy in the middle of the sea. They can't agree on what it is; Louey says it's a rock, Frank thinks it's a whale. The identity of the big blue hump is made clear with the presence of a blowhole and an eye, but it quickly becomes a moot point when Frank and Louey are caught in a storm and tossed into the sea.
Things look dire for the adventuresome duo, yet despite their inability to agree on anything, they manage to work together to survive. And in the end they finally do find some common ground, agreeing that their trip was quite an adventure. As a professional storyteller and folklorist, White gathers tales from all over Europe. The Adventure of Louey and Frank is based on one such tale, an Irish legend about how Saint Brendan and his monks camped on the back of a whale named Jasconius. Dronzek illustrates the tale with vibrant drawings that favor rich, jewel-like colors and provide for plenty of visual entertainment.
--Beth Amos
ANNOTATION
Two friends, a bear and a rabbit, build a boat out of shoes, but after their trip at sea, the only thing on which they agree is that their experience was an adventure.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Steady she goes! Louey and Frank are headed to sea in a boat made from old shoes, with a sock for a sail. A one-of-a-kind voyage is assured, especially since Louey and Frand disagree about a lot of things—like whether their picnicking spot is a big gray rock with a geyserﾽor a whale with a blowhole. But there is one thing the two friends do agree on when they finally limp into their home port courtesy of a prickly log (or is it a fish with prickers?). That was an adventureﾽand young children will agree! A breath of fresh sea air from Carolyn White and Laura Dronzek!
About the Authors:Carolyn White is a folklorist, professional storyteller, and author. She lives in East Lansing, MI.
Laura Dronzek is the illustrator fo Oh! by Kevin Henkes. She lives in Madison, WI.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Two quarrelsome friends go to sea in this sly puzzler, which playfully refuses to provide closure. At first, even the characters' identities are in doubt. Louey and Frank appear to be stuffed animals who board a floating pair of pink tennis shoes. The indirect narrative offers clues to who's who ("Louey waved at the fishes. Frank tossed marshmallows at the birds"), while the placid pictures present a white rabbitish fellow and a brown teddy bear with wide-open button eyes and a startled pink o for a mouth. When the sailors encounter a "blue and humpy" shape in the water, they debate whether it's a whale or a rock; when they see a spiny brown object, they disagree over whether it's a fish or a log. White remains coy about the truth of the matter, and she plays on words to emphasize the nonsense; as Louey and Frank sit atop the whale-rock, "It rolled. 'Hold on tight,' said Louey. 'The rock's rocking.' " Dronzek's (Oh!) sedate acrylic paintings reveal isolated details like a target-shaped eye or a mouthful of blunt teeth, but never show an entire ocean creature; neither Louey nor Frank is absolutely correct. For all the quirky mystery, the volume exudes gentleness and mimics an occasionally silly game of let's-pretend. Ages 4-up. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature
One day, best friends Louey and Frank, a bear and a rabbit, agree to build a boat out of two old shoes tied together and a sock for a sail. After that, all they can agree on is that they are having fun together on this mixed-up adventure at sea. Louey thinks they've landed on a rock while Frank thinks they've landed on a whale. Frank says they are riding on a fish, while Louey says they are riding on a log. Throughout, the two friends accept their differences of opinion with good humor. Of course, there is also a scary storm at sea. Kids will enjoy finding out how Louey and Frank manage to get out of trouble. The bold, bright illustrations are filled with detail and a delightful sense of fantasy. The text encourages the reader to use his or her imagination, too. A fun read. 2001, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, $14.95 and $14.89. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Dianne Ochiltree
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-Sitting by a pond one day, Louey the Rabbit and Frank the Bear decide to tie some old (giant-sized) shoes together and use them to sail out to sea, armed with pickle sandwiches and a bag of marshmallows. They sail along until they reach a blue bump poking from the waves and then debate whether it is a rock or a whale. This conversation continues even after the "rock" eats their marshmallows, throws the two into the sea, and abandons them. Finally, the two latch on to what might be a log or a fish and reach the shore. They agree that whether it was a rock or a whale, it was an adventure. The static figures of Louey and Frank, whose facial expressions never change despite being thrown into the roiling sea and witnessing their boat being eaten by sharks, are buoyed by vivid backgrounds of waves and fish. Combined with the simplistic text, which has an odd rhyming consistency, the book fails to convince readers that the protagonists are indeed having an adventure.-Holly Belli, Bergen County Cooperative Library System, West Caldwell, NJ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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