Three: An Emberley Family Sketchbook - Hardcover

This uneven project from the talented Emberley family brings together too many experiments to serve readers well. Each Emberley gets a separate section; the prolific Ed Emberley goes first. Using stiff, computer-generated images of people and animals, he lists ways of counting to three ("once, twice, thrice"), considers the "tri-" prefix and demonstrates how to use the bumpy "3" shape as a basis for drawing. Yet his segment bogs down in a 12-page simultaneous telling of the Three Little Pigs, the Three Bears and the Three Billy Goats Gruff, arranged one on top of the other in cartoon panels. Next, Ed's daughter Rebecca (Three Cool Kids) changes the tone with a series of poems, recipes and multimedia collages. "Being able to illustrate whatever I want rather than having it all fit one story or concept is very unusual and wonderful," she writes cheerfully, typifying the volume's underlying note of self-indulgence. Un-fortunately, her pedestrian rhymes, about "three peas in a pod" and three "slippery-slimy" snakes, don't do justice to their arresting cut-paper-and-applique backdrops. Her brother Michael (Happy Birth Day!) offers more poems, with drawings inked or penciled on white negative space. The poems lack originality, but the artwork showcases a different style on each spread, from a preschool parable, "Three Honey Bunnies," with thick black line and bold blocks of color to whirling color-pen sketches pulsing with a jazz beat in "The Music Makers." Taken individually, none of these units would be up to publishing par, and the combination here doesn't multiply the reader's enjoyment. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreSchool-Grade 3-A trio of creative Emberleys combine their considerable talents and explore the concept of "three" in this collection of things to do, stories to read, recipes to cook, and plenty of poetry to share. The fascinating jumble of works-in-progress, children's sketches, and artists' paraphernalia on the endpapers promises a very personal visit and each of the three sections is, in fact, introduced with a charming and quirky autobiographical sketch. Ed provides a diverse mix of stories and activities, many in comic-strip format, using computer-generated art. Rebecca illustrates eight brief original poems and three recipes with paper and fabric collages. Michael's watercolor illustrations enhance eight rhymes that range from the familiar "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to the Prelutsky-like "Three Chances." Within the words, pictures, and crafts, observant viewers can find some variant of the number three. Children who are captivated by the various activities and formats in the first third of the book will be disappointed to discover that the remaining two-thirds is mostly poetry. The family conceit is interesting as a concept but the book as a whole does not hold together. Adults may be more appreciative of the creative process within the family; kids will be expecting a bit more than this delivers. A first choice for Emberley fans, a secondary purchase for most collections, but short of three stars overall.
Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.