EARLY READER: Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

BINK & GOLLIE: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
by Kate DiCamillo & Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile
Candlewick Press, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3497-1
Early Reader
Grades K-3
Reviewed from purchased copy.

ABOUT THE BOOK

All righty, then! Celebrate the tall and short of a marvelous friendship with a new Bink and Gollie adventure.

Gollie is quite sure she has royal blood in her veins, but can Bink survive her friend’s queenly airs — especially if pancakes are not part of the deal? Bink wonders what it would be like to be as tall as her friend, but how far will she stretch her luck to find out? And when Bink and Gollie long to get their picture into a book of record holders, where will they find the kudos they seek? Slapstick and sweetness, drollery and delight abound in this follow-up to the Geisel Award–winning, New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Bink and Gollie, written by the beloved and best-selling Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and brought to hilarious life by Tony Fucile.

REVIEW

I love this series! Seriously, completely, infatuated. Not only are the characters delightful, but they are genuine and not afraid to be themselves.  The plots in these short stories are simple and yet profound. I'm always amazed when authors can tell stories of depth in so few words and in this case, mostly through text. In this, the third book in the series, Gollie and Bink face some interesting dilemmas.  First, Gollie discovers she is royalty and decides not to fix pancakes any more which shocks Bink. And Bink decides that she isn't sure about being frie

nds with a 'queen.' Can their friendship survive?  And what about when Bink thinks she's found a way to make herself taller but things don't quite work out they way she hopes? Can she handle the disappointment. And can Bink and Gollie really set a world record?  I laughed my way through this book.  The writing and illustrating compliment each other perfectly.  The words are fabulous and the illustrations really bring home the humor and good spirits of Bink and Gollie. This series is great for early readers, but older children will enjoy it too and it would make for a great shared read. Highly, highly recommended.