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Priscilla’s Paw De Deux

by Sharon Jennings, Linda Hendry, illus.

Priscilla, a rat with an artistic temperament, wants to become a ballerina. When she finds a dance studio to practice in, she is surprised to discover a kindred spirit there in Percival, a cat who does a mean jeté. But the determined Priscilla has no intention of letting a “flea-bitten, mangy furball of a watchcat” mess with her dancing dreams.

In this, the second Priscilla the Rat picture book, Toronto author Sharon Jennings brings the determined, abrasive, yet likeable rodent back to centre stage. Linda Hendry’s muted colour renderings help solidify Priscilla’s strong personality and capture her kitschy fashion sense. Hendry also provides entertaining details of rat life at Tony’s Trattoria, where Priscilla and her friends sup from bottlecap plates and empty coffee creamers under the tablecloth at the feet of human diners.

Through a well-designed mix of vignettes, double spreads, and full-page illustrations, this tale of artistic harmony leaps energetically to its finale: Priscilla and Percival performing the pas de deux from Swan Lake for an audience of rats and cats. And while there is goodwill and creative collaboration onstage, the audience is notably separated by species with queue ropes, another humorous, fully plausible detail that children will appreciate.

 

Reviewer: Carol L. Mackay

Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

DETAILS

Price: $18.95

Page Count: 32 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 1-55041-718-5

Released: Aug.

Issue Date: 2002-9

Categories: Picture Books

Age Range: ages 5-8