Cottonball Colin (review)

It's a big, bad world out there, and poor Colin Smally is so fragile and tiny ("even for a mouse") that his mother thinks it best to keep him safe and sound inside, never daring to let him venture forth. By winter, Colin is going stir crazy, watching his bigger brothers and sisters having all the fun outdoors, until Grandma comes up with the brilliant idea to swathe him in cotton for protection. As it turns out, his cotton padding seems to actually invite danger: it is gradually pulled off as he is mistaken for a snowball by a boy, a piece of bread by a duck, and a fat white rabbit by a fox. Still, Colin survives even sans cotton and returns home triumphant to his horrified mother ("Colin, where is your cotton?" she shrieks), who finally realizes that it's best to let her boy go rather than smother him with safety. Willis's matter-of-fact tone and occasional short phrases ("She wouldn't let him climb. Or run. Or jump. In case he fell") keep her story fresh, active, and immediate, and the book's underlying message is handled without sentimentality or heavy-handedness. Ross's watercolor mice are charming and highly expressive, with delicate touches of pink on ears and pointy noses, and fetching wardrobes of plaid skirts, stripy nightshirts, and high-top shoes. There is plenty of humor in Ross's depiction of Colin's transformation into "Cottonball Colin," with his mom chasing him around the house, cotton in hand, and the cotton-clad Colin looking like a walking snowball with only green boots and long tail visible. The animal chase scenes provide plenty of action for the formerly inert Colin, as the duck and fox each stretch menacingly across their two-page spreads in pursuit. Both parental sorts who sympathize with Colin's mother and kids who chafe under too much protection will relate to Colin's travails.