Frannie And Pickles: Frannie And Pickles

Rating:
Summary: An engagingly entertaining tale
Review: Frannie & Pickles is a cheery picture book by Preston McClear about a woman named Frannie and her beloved canine companion Pickles. Yet one day Frannie wakes up feeling odd - the roles have reversed, and now it is Frannie who catches frisbees, chases the mailman, and laps her food while Pickles takes very good care of her. A humorous, unique, and engagingly entertaining tale, Frannie & Pickles is delightfully illustrated in color by Nicholas Dollak.

Rating:
Summary: A surprising and amusing children's story
Review: FRANNIE AND PICKLES is an amusing story about a woman, Frannie, and her best friend, Pickles the dog. One day they decide to trade roles in life. It's a startling and surprising transition. I've never seen any children's story like this! Preston McClear's narrative is engaging, and Nicholas Dollak's illustrations are vibrant and endearing. Though I have to disagree with age recommendation listed on this page. I think the bar needs to be lowered by about two years; rather than 4-8, I think FRANNIE AND PICKLES is best suited for something more along the lines of 2-6.

My mom is training in early childhood education, so I naturally offered her a look at the book. She found FRANNIE AND PICKLES so unusual and surprising that I ended up giving her my copy to share with the children at her daycare center.

Andrew Parodi

Rating:
Summary: The Old Switcheroo!!
Review: My children always loved humorous books more than any others. When the humorous books were enhanced by illustrations that improved the humor, the pleasure was even better. Underneath the humor, the author and illustrator could share some profound insights . . . and these would be quickly absorbed by each child. When the book was sophisticated in its perspective, I enjoyed reading and rereading the book as well.

I was delighted to see that Frannie & Pickles is an outstanding example of what I have admired most in children's books, as I described above.

If you've ever watched dogs and their owners, I'm sure you've been struck by how often they look alike. Frannie & Pickles takes that observation into a new direction: What if dogs and their owners start by behave like each other?

Frannie, an older woman, "loved being with Pickles most out of her many friends." She fed him breakfast in a dog dish on her kitchen table while he sat in a chair. He rode on the back of her bicycle while she steered and peddled. She dressed him up in clothes, just like a doll. Pickles had a smaller version of Frannie's bed, next to her. Frannie read him stories at night and tucked him into bed. Pickles often curled up in Frannie's lap in front of the roaring fireplace.

"One day Frannie and Pickles were having tea. Frannie said. 'Pickles, darling. I sure do feel odd.'

Frannie lapped up the rest of her tea." And so the fun begins. Frannie is next out sniffing rose bushes on all fours, then hanging out of the car window with her tongue extended while Pickles drives. Frannie grows a beard, and Pickles shaves her. The two chase a cat up the Ginkgo tree. They both chase after the mailman. Pickles beat Frannie at bridge. Frannie beat Pickles at Frisbee fetching (she can catch it in her teeth). When evening came, Pickles read Frannie a story.

"Frannie drifted off to sleep thinking that good friends do come in all shapes and sizes."

As you can see, the book is subtle in that Frannie becomes totally dog-like while Pickles can be either a dog or a human. It's a very dog-centric story without going as far as a Clifford book.

The illustrations are wonderfully detailed and add story elements that the text cannot capture. While the text says that Frannie was better at fetching Frisbees than Pickles, the illustration shows her catching with her teeth while Pickles throws with his paw. You would need three times as many words to tell the same story and it wouldn't work as well for a child. There are also little elements that the text doesn't refer to at all. For instance, there are very funny mouse creatures in many of the interior scenes. The bottom of the mail man's shoe says "Skids." Children will enjoy seeking out these extra humorous elements. The rich colors and subtle shading of the illustrations will also help children appreciate the potential of cartoons.

As I finished the story, I realized that there's no reason for people not to act more like their dogs. After all, dogs usually seem a lot happier than people. It makes me laugh just to think about acting more like Pickles.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, GREAT illustrations
Review: Preston McClear's story of an eccentric woman and her dog's change-of-places is clever and fun, but what really sends this book over the top are Nicholas Dollak's intricate, subtle, and humorously subversive illustrations.

Children will love the fantastic nature of Dollak's images - from Frannie's high-piled hair (and the like-shaped scarf and nightcap with which she covers it) to the unusual collage of materials used to decorate her home's walls. Even more pleasing are the numerous "easter egg" details planted in the peripheries of the pages - the mice that rule the cat, the flag-waving lizards at the imaginary race, the recurring planes and birds in flight, and much more. Even very young children will enjoy playing "what's that?" or "where's the ladybug?" with Dollak's detailed, colorful pictures.

The story of Frannie's relationship with her dog Pickles will appeal to young ones as an engaging, silly story of role-reversal; those children who've taken a turn at the family pet's water dish will no doubt find a certain amount of confirmation here. At the same time, older children will find valuable underlying social ideals, such as treating others as you'd like to be treated, and imaging yourself in someone else's place, all couched in a clever and engaging context.

Did I mention the pipe smoking, hat-wearing squirrels? Story: 4 stars, illustrations: 6 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for both kids and adults
Review: Sometimes it's difficult to find a book that an adult will actually enjoy reading over and over and over to a child who is hooked on one particular story. Frannie and Pickles just might fit the requirements in somewhat the same way Winnie the Pooh tales do: folks of different ages can appreciate the humor on different levels.
The basic plot is simple: Frannie and her dog Pickles trade places for a day. The fun and laughter come from the character development that occurs as a result of the ploy. Add to the mix the fact that it's a good easy beginning reader for kids, and the author and illustrator have a winner.

Rating:
Summary: "Hilarious!"
Review: That's the verdict from my six-year-old on Frannie and Pickles, a whimsically illustrated story of the special bond between an elderly woman and her animal companion. The bond intensifies page by page. Somehow, Frannie becomes her dog Pickles, and vice versa. Frannie catches a Frisbee in her mouth. Pickles wins a bridge game. While my son was laughing at the narrative, my two-year-old enjoyed searching the delicately detailed pictures for the subtext story of a gang of mice who are terrorizing cats. What were those mice going to do next? In a corner of the final page, the barbarous mice, in caveman skins, are gathered around a tiny barbecue. No! Are they going to eat roasted cat!? My family goes through stacks of children's library books and finds that an occasional book is a definite "keeper." This book is one of those you can read over and over for new discoveries; the story is so subtle and poetic that there endless messages to be gleaned from it. My six-year-old and I discussed a different ethical aspect of how living beings treat one another at each reading. My two-year-old never tired of looking for those mice! Buy this book--it's a lovely holiday gift for sensitive, thinking families who value compassion towards animals and a good joke. I'm still chuckling over that heart tattoo on Frannie that read "Pickles 4-ever!" --Reviewed by Deborah Salazar

Rating:
Summary: Freaky Frannie: Excellent Book for Kids and Adults
Review: This is a very clever book about identity exchange in the "Freaky Friday" mode, except that McClear's fanciful tale is about an inter-species switch between human and dog: Frannie acts like Pickles and Pickles acts like Frannie! After establishing the close, special relationship between Frannie and her dog (Pickles rides on the backseat of Frannie's two-wheel bicycle), the plot turns to their sudden change in behavior.

One of the trickiest aspects of this genre is how to explain the switch: was it a magic spell or potion, or perhaps a dream? The author takes what I think is the right course for a children's book--it just happens without a lot of hoopla:

"One day Frannie and Pickles were having tea. Frannie said, 'Pickles, darling, I sure do feel odd.' Frannie lapped up the rest of her tea."

The book's text and illustrations show the wild and very funny consequences: One of my favorites is the book cover (also found on page 20) of Pickles driving while Frannie hangs her head out the window with her tongue and hair waving. Other adventures include Frannie chasing the postman, and catching a Frisbee thrown by Pickles.

I was quite impressed with Nicholas Dollak's unique illustrations: Rather than appeal to a common denominator, the pictures show an incredible amount of style and sophistication. They don't condescend to the reader by oversimplifying. The colors are bold and usually only one main idea is pictured (which is great for a younger audience), but there are plenty of details and verbal and visual jokes for the older reader as well.(However, cat lovers might want to know that there are some small pictures showing minor violence by mice against a cat.) 34 pages on very high quality paper. This is a very fun book, and I look forward to more work from this team.