One reader’s reaction to MR BUMBLE AND THE HIPPO:
Mr. Bumble is marvelous! The book is a steady joy to read, and the
illustrations a constant surprise and delight. The story is charming but
never coy and genuinely poignant without being maudlin. Mistress Jane's
passionate love for her dog is sincerely wrought and utterly winning - as
is the image of long-striding, cap-topped Jane venturing boldly through
forests and stars, with her short-legged hero in tow.
The art work does what only the best illustrations do, which is
to take the seed of the text and let it bloom for our eyes, to say with the
author the phrases for which there is no language. These collages have eliminated
the
superfluous and celebrated what endures, rendering moods and moments with
colorful vitality. Some of the illustrations have a bouncy vibrancy to
them, and almost explode off the page; others are subtle and quiet, and
pull the reader into the stillness of the page and the emotion.
The writing is witty and winsome. Oh, Bumble, we all struggle as much as
you do to maintain our fragile dignity. Mr. B's courage when he encounters
large dogs (largely reported, we cannot but notice) is admirable, and his
relieved annoyance at being scooped up in their vicinity surprises none of
us. The hippo ride resembles all of life's best moments: it is partly
terrifying.
Mr. Bumble might blush, but the truth is he is universal. His eponymous
progress through the overly long walks with his mistress is how the rest of
us move through life. His bumbling vulnerability is our own. "A
nuisance?" he asks, dumbfounded that others have a different perspective
about pets. Above all, I suspect, we resonate to Mr. Bumble's
empathy for Mistress Jane's sensitivity to his sweetness: a tangle of good
emotions that yields mostly - but not entirely - beneficence.
This is such a fine book that I suspect it will thrive in spite of the
world into which it is thrust. The production values are terrific: thick,
glossy paper, excellent typeface, and brilliantly reproduced
illustrations. Get it into the right hands as fast as possible, and Bumble on!
--Jeffrey Beatty, playwright and author