Home (review)

Four animal friends, named One (a deer), Two (a bear), Three (a bunny), and Four (a badger), share a house together until One decides that they should all take to the sea as pirates. Two, Three, and Four have different ideas, however, and the result is lots of arguing and the dismantling of the house as the four go their separate ways: "One took the door and stormed off to sea. Two took the walls and stomped off up a mountain. Three took the windows and scurried to a cave. Four picked up the floor and shuffled off to the big city." Predictably, the friends' experiences with solo life are disappointing and prompt them to reunite and to rebuild their joint home, adding wheels to enable the group to change location at will, this time together. The plot is rather thin and predictable, and One's sudden desire for seafaring comes out of nowhere, operating largely as an excuse for the story's direction. The essential message of friends learning to compromise is still a valuable one, though, and there are touches of amusement in the animals (badger Four is unhappy with his reception at a big city party, where "it was as if they had never seen a badger boogie-woogie before!"). Smith's digitally created art is lively and casual; multiple patterns and watercolor-like textures are layered to add energy and punch, but they occasionally lead to overly busy, unfocused compositions. Still, the four friends are cute as can be with their oversized heads, widely spaced eyes, and perpetually rosy cheeks, and the general effect is one of sunny cheerfulness. This might be a good addition to a house-themed storytime, or it could be used as a discussion starter about friendship and compromise.