Anthony and the Girls (review)

Young Anthony approaches the sandbox ready to impress the girls quietly playing within; the girls, however, are made of tough stuff, ignoring Anthony's "really big car," his exploits on the slide, and his construction of a pretend house. When his house crumbles, however, Anthony bursts into tears, which finally attracts the notice of the girls, with whom he then plays happily—until the drama looks ready to play itself over again with the arrival of new boy Luke. The book vacillates between touching legitimately on gender issues and resorting to gender clichés (and could the girls at least get names?), but there's certainly credibility to the notion that trying to impress other people isn't always a great way to win their friendship. The pared-down text manages some gentle irony at Anthony's expense ("Anthony is cool") while simply setting up the repeated pattern of his doomed attempts at attention-seeking: "But the girls still don't look." Könnecke's artwork depicts robust little figures, simply drawn, in earthtones against square cream backgrounds; his style recalls mid-century New Yorker cartoonists such as Whitney Darrow in its round simplicity leavened with slyness. While some of the subtext will float over kids' heads to adult audiences, young playground habitués will appreciate the gently humorous treatment of the important subject of playground dynamics.