More Red Wagon

Another lovely review, Yipee!

This review is from the Jan 19, 2011 edition of Shelf Awareness

A trip to the market with the titular Red Wagon in tow becomes a flight of fancy thanks to Renata Liwska's (Little Panda) visually imaginative illustrations for her playfully tongue-in-cheek text. When Lucy, a small red fox with a bow on her head, asks her mother if she can play with her "brand-new little red wagon," her mother responds, "Sure, you can use your wagon to go to the market." What at first seems like a chore to Lucy quickly gives way to an adventure. Her squirrel and porcupine friends hop in ("It was pretty heavy"), and when it starts to rain, the horizon line tilts and empties into a roaring ocean. The humor arises from a narrative that plays straight man. "By the time she got to the bottom, it was really coming down!" says the text, while the red wagon serves as a hull for a sailing vessel. Lucy and her crew attempt to rescue a raccoon with a hook for its left paw, floating in an umbrella with a skull-and-crossbones flag affixed to the handle. A covered (red) wagon takes them on the next leg of their journey (10-gallon hats, a sheriff's badge and bandannas complete the picture), and when "at last, Lucy arrived at the market!" the covered stalls look suspiciously like circus tents (with fruits and vegetables to be juggled and spun). Even though Lucy is too tuckered out to "play" when she gets home with all the items on her list, youngsters know that this little fox made the most of her errand. Pure delight.