The Younger Brother's Survival Guide: by Matt (review)

Little brother Matt has decided to compile his survival tips into a guide for all younger siblings. The story offers eight comic suggestions for surviving younger siblinghood, from dealing with suspicious drinks prepared by your sly older sister, the dreaded "Mystery Shakes" (tip #1, switch the glasses), to learning to avoid going outside while underdressed (tip #4, never run around the house in your underwear because doors have a way of getting locked if your older sister is near them). Acrylic paints are textured with cut-paper collage elements that add intriguing background details; many of the spreads are spare with similar background colors, creating compositions that focus on Matt, his sister, and her fiendishly loyal white cat. There's not much real hope here for genuinely beleaguered younger siblings—the power issues are glossed over by the retrospective adult sensibility—but many kids will nonetheless revel in the notion of guidance for attack and defense, and they'll appreciate the originality of a book that doesn't insist siblings truly love one another underneath it all.