Julian - Hardcover

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

PreSchool-Grade 2?The timeworn theme?"accept yourself"?fails to carry this thin and illogical fable of a boy who plays the flute beautifully but neglects to get a decent haircut. When grownups are incensed about Julian's hair length and style (but curiously unconcerned about his nudity), he retreats to the wild only to return with a neat hairdo and a tuxedo. But, alas, his flute is now silent. So he goes to the mountains and when he returns, he plays for himself?and the people now pay attention. Claverie's soft-lead drawings burnished with pastels present caricatured adults who stand in stark contrast to the simpering, Keene-eyed portrayal of Julian and his animal friends. Better treatments of this theme can be found in Don Freeman's Dandelion (Viking, 1964), Leo Lionni's The Biggest House in the World (Pantheon, 1968), or Linda Shute's Rabbit Wishes (Lothrop, 1995).?Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA
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