ANNOTATION

Lively Potch pursues the girl of his dreams, the darling Polly Pumpernickel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Born in the company of an angel wearing a clown's nose, Potch has always woken up happy to be who and where he is. Then, when he meets Polly Pumpernickel at a masquerade ball, he does a double backflip, but it's his heart that really goes for a whirl. Polly goes for a whirl, too, and winds up in a fountain after a dance-gone-wrong with Potch. One catastrophe follows another as Potch tries to win her affection. Just when things look utterly hopeless, Polly realizes that Potch isn't merely another annoying short bald guy, and she comes up with a plan of her own

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Antisentimentalist Steig (Made for Each Other; Which Would You Rather Be?) crafts a screwball Cinderella story about a couple of klutzes. Potch was born laughing, with "an angel with a clown's face hovering over the bed." He grows from a chubby, happy boy into a chubby, happy, bald man not quite princely material. One day, costumed as Harlequin at a masquerade ball, he spies "the preternatural Polly Pumpernickel," a lanky socialite with a little head, big feet and plenty of charisma. "He was so smitten, he did a double backflip." (The illustrations leave this nimble move to the imagination.) Polly takes to Potch, too, but when his over-exuberant dancing lands her in the fountain, she gets steamed. The book tallies Potch's slapstick efforts to win her back, each resulting in an accident of vaudevillian proportions. In aptly loony images, Agee (Milo's Hat Trick) alludes to Krazy Kat's affection for the brick-toting Ignatz Mouse. He recalls classic comics with strong directional lines, sweeping curves, voice balloons and sound effects ("wok!... clonk!" after Polly flings a dictionary). As in other wacky courtships Popeye and Olive come to mind the romance is hard to fathom, but the puckish storytelling and artful compositions have considerable spark. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-This irresistible picture book has it all: a tongue-in-cheek text brimming with deliciously alliterative phrases, wry cartoons that mix visual gags with a comic-book punch, and a plot featuring two lovers who are taunted by twists of fate and turns of slapstick humor. Born with a clown-faced angel cavorting nearby, Potch enjoys a happy childhood and grows into a contented adult. Then one day, he receives an invitation to a masquerade party and goes dressed as Harlequin. He is having a "ball at the ball" when he lays eyes on Polly Pumpernickel and is instantly smitten. Passions build as the couple takes charge of the dance floor. Just when it seems that they will "prance and pirouette" their way to a happy ending, Potch tosses his partner into the air and she accidentally ends up in the fountain, drenched and incensed. Determined to win his lady's hand, he concocts several elaborate and ridiculous schemes to impress her. Unfortunately, something always goes wrong, and it's up to Potch's angel to find a way to untangle the heartstrings of these star-crossed lovers. Steig's delivery is flawless and funny, as outrageous plot turns are balanced by straightforward, almost staccato language that moves along at an exhilarating pace. Highlighted by crayon lines and subtly colored in pastel hues, the hilarious artwork expands and enhances the text. The balding, paunchy Potch and orange-haired, pencil-thin Polly make quite an eye-catching couple, and Agee makes the most of their antics. Dialogue balloons, sound effects, and varied layouts keep the energy level high. A sublimely silly and thoroughly satisfying love story.-Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Agee (Milo's Hat Trick, 2001, etc.) illustrates this comic take on the course of true love never running smooth with clownish flair. Short, jolly Potch meets beanpole Polly Pumpernickel at a costume ball and falls head over heels. So does Polly, when he accidentally tosses her into a fountain. Potch's hilariously clumsy efforts to patch things up only annoy Polly more until she hears his guardian angel (who comes complete with an orange wig and bulb nose) advising him to give it up, as " ¿¿¿Polly Pumpernickel will never understand your kind of love.' " Shortly thereafter, Potch receives a large gift box, out of which spins Polly. "Somewhere music started playing," and the two are last seen dancing off to a presumably blissful future. Steig's (Which Would You Rather Be?, p. 668, etc.) extravagant prose-"Polly thought Potch might be the daffy darling of her daily dreams. The one missing piece of her pie"-gives the essentially adult tale the air of a sophisticated valentine, but perceptive younger readers will also catch the tenderness underlying this rocky, slapstick romance. (Picture book. 7-9)