Rose and Riley
Rose and Riley Come and Goby Jane Cutler; illustrated by Thomas F. Yezerski
Rose is a vole, and the overly practical one who packs cheese sandwiches for the beach but drags an umbrella out on a sunny day. Riley’s a groundhog and off in dreamworld, cheering up his fretful friend with homemade Worry Dolls, but carrying a baseball bat to fend off “Wild Flowers” instead of wildflowers.
You probably know people like this. In fact, it describes my marriage. In these two slim volumes of three stories apiece, Rose and Riley turn ordinary days into mishap-filled commentaries on the nature of friendship. If one has a problem, the other has a solution, even if it’s as deflating as canceling an un-birthday party.
Cutler’s light touch keeps us chuckling at their quirks, even if there’s no real character arc to follow. We’re just peeking in on a pair of charming knuckleheads. Lucky us!
I had one major caveat with the storytelling: these books are heavy on the dialogue and it can be tough determining who’s speaking. This makes reading aloud difficult, as I get the voices all wrong. Even so, they’ve achieved iconic status in our household, with my son defining “Wild Flowers” the way Riley does, as a bunch of purple-petaled meanies. Hee hee.
Rating: *\*\*\
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