Mr Peek and the Misunderstanding at the Zoo
by Kevin Waldron
Illustrated by Kevin Waldron
This long title puts us back into Edwardian times and the whole package of the book enhances that illusion. There's a distinctly French look to the illustrations, layout and colour of this funny tale with a sort of modern twist on classic picture books. I liked it a lot.
It's the cleverly simple tale of Mr Peek whose routine never varies. But this morning when he puts on his favourite jacket (which makes him feel very important) he notices it is very tight. Here begins a witty series of misunderstandings where the animals assume Peek's self doubts are aimed at them. '"'Why you're sweating just doing your rounds," Mr Peek says to himself as he enters the bear's cave. "You stink!" he exclaims." And the ashamed bear creeps into a corner.
Of course the misunderstanding is all resolved when Peek bumps into his son wearing an oversize jacket of the same colour. As in all good picture books there are sub text messages in the illustrations and the final denouement is wordless which adds to the humour.
A great book to tickle the fancy of knowing kids.