Awesome!

June 15, 2018
Heroism threatens a friendship.Marvin the moose and Woody the beaver are introduced as "best friends," but their friendship is stretched thin after Marvin uses his antlers to save another animal from drowning and becomes "a local hero." At first, Woody is a fan, as he fashions a red cape that Marvin, now "AWESOME FOR HIRE," will sport in his new superhero business venture as one who is "brave, caring ANDunderstanding." Unfortunately, the more Marvin grows in fame and stature (there's even a statue in his honor), the more Woody is consumed by jealousy. Things quickly swirl out of control for Woody as he makes one bad move after another, causing injury and mayhem in the forest. Fortunately, all ends well as Woody performs a rescue of his own and a new statue is erected (featuring Marvin's head on top of Woody's, this looks somewhat like a totem pole). Shuttlewood adds little to the canon of picture-book tales of friendship, and the extreme measures to which the beaver resorts (theft, bullying, and assault) for attention may raise eyebrows. The cartoon-style illustrations are colorful but very busy, and the pages are often filled to overbrimming with creatures of the forest. There is a lesson about true friendship here, but the action-figure moves muddy the message. (Picture book. 4-7)

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August 16, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-Being best friends with an awesome forest hero isn't easy, as Woody the beaver learns when his best friend Marvin the moose saves a squirrel from danger. Before Woody knows it, Marvin has gone from a local hero to a forest celebrity. A statue of Marvin has even been erected in the forest. Woody, however, has been left alone because Marvin is so busy, and he is seriously jealous and lonely. In order to garner some attention of his own, Woody starts acting out. He destroys the work of others (kicking over a carefully created pile of nuts) or tosses items onto the forest friends. For his final prank, Woody steals the statue of Marvin, intending to later "find" it to great adulation, but the statue breaks loose from Woody and careens toward a rabbit family. Luckily, Marvin and Woody are able to work together to save all the bunnies from harm, and Woody re-carves the statue to recognize both of the awesome friends. Young children will enjoy Woody's silly, misguided, and loyal actions. The illustrations are amusing as well as a bit slapstick-a moose standing on two legs with a red cape and red eye mask would make just about anybody smile-and capture the ups and downs of the two friends. VERDICT An enjoyable story showing the pitfalls of being famous as well as the joys of having a true friend.-Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough, CA

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