Cecil the Pet Glacier (review)

Ruby Small's parents are embarrassingly unusual: Dad creates topiary while Mom designs tiaras, and the two love tangoing in the front yard and playing miniature Ping-Pong on the tray tables during an airplane flight. When a small glacier "calf " (the technical term for a chunk of ice that falls off of a glacier) begins following Ruby on a family trip to Norway, her parents are delighted that she's found a pet. Even after the family takes him home (safely ensconced in a snazzy red Igloo cooler), Ruby is less than thrilled with Cecil. It is only when Cecil, at great risk to himself, retrieves one of her beloved dolls in a downpour on the playground that Ruby warms to her strange icy pet. Harvey's narrative is at once absurd and wry, and even the peripheral details of Ruby's story are amusing ("Mrs. Small piled fifteen hatboxes into the car—she didn't like to repeat tiaras even on vacation"). While kids embarrassed by their parents will sympathize with Ruby, Cecil is amazingly endearing for a lump of rocky ice, and Ruby's initial cold-shouldering will earn him sympathy. Potter's trademark folk-art-style watercolor illustrations (in blues, greens, and golden browns, with pops of red) are effective in their pairing with this strange little story; while the slightly surreal quality of her paintings is well matched to the text's odd subject matter, the straight-faced approach of the illustrations lends a bit of gravitas to the amusingly bizarre narrative. Use this to spice up a pet-themed storytime or classroom unit, or simply share it aloud with kids who will appreciate its particular brand of weirdness.