From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1—In a follow-up to Ellie, Pixar illustrator Wu delivers another tale about the lovable elephant and her adorable zoo animal friends. In this installment, Lucy the giraffe suffers from insomnia because of the cacophony of nocturnal noises. Ellie solves her friend's problem by organizing the beasts into an orchestra and singing Lucy a lullaby. While the premise is not especially original, the musical spin adds a unique element, particularly in Ellie's artistic representation of the parts of the orchestra rendered in different colors, a nod to her talent as a painter in the original book. Where the text is unembellished, the watercolor illustrations are lush and emotive. Wu's animals are doe-eyed, with humanlike expressions, and their zoo habitat has depth and a rich palette. The musical notation for "Betty's Tune," named for the bird who inspired Ellie's composition, is depicted on the end pages. VERDICT A sweet animal story for medium and large picture book collections and fans of the first title.—Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA Read more Review KIRKUS REVIEWFirst met in Ellie (2015), the eponymous, doe-eyed elephant becomes a champion of the arts as she adds music to her painting skills. Poor Lucy the giraffe cannot sleep with the cacophony of noise in the zoo. "All Ellie wanted to do was help her friend." Ellie shows readers true acts of compassion and problem-solving. The problem is clear: Lucy needs sleep. Ellie calmly stands by her friend's side as each sleep aid is explored without success. When Ellie hears Betty Bluebird sing a lullaby to her babies, she has a new idea. She enlists the aid of Gerard, the wise gorilla, and organizes the animals into musical sections, just like an orchestra. She helps each animal find his or her tune. With patience and practice, Ellie changes the nightly noise in the zoo into a beautiful song that helps Lucy finally go to sleep. Wu's expressive watercolor illustrations are imbued with kindness and comfort even through the inharmonious screaming and squinting of the noisy animals. The secondary characters have distinct personalities that clearly show what caring friends look like. Betty's "theme" is reproduced in the backmatter; Ellie's full score is printed on the inside of the jacket.Readers will find a simple plot and compassionate characters balanced with glowing pictures for a satisfying story. (Picture book. 3-7)LAUGHING PLACE REVIEWIn 2015, Disney Press published an adorable children's book called Ellie about a young elephant in a struggling zoo who uses her artistic talents to save her home. Since then, Ellie became a big success and was even selected as one of NPR's best books of 2015. Two years later, Ellie returns in another story, Ellie in Concert.Ellie's zoo is doing just fine, but her giraffe friend Lucy is finding their home too noisy to sleep in. Poor Lucy is constantly disturbed by the roars, snorts and grumps that the other animals make, but when Ellie hears bluebird Betty singing her chicks to sleep, she gets an inspired idea. Now she has to figure out a way to turn all of the animal noises into a beautiful symphony so that Lucy can finally get some rest.Mike Wu returns to this adorable world in this charming sequel. As a Cal Arts graduate and a Pixar animator, Ellie's world feels directly influenced by the watercolor designs that influenced the earliest Disney animated shorts and features, like Dumbo and Elmer the Elephant. He's equally skilled at writing and illustrating and Ellie in Concert is another solid release. Fans can keep up with Mike Wu's personal projects through his website, which even includes some Ellie merchandise.I found Ellie in Concert to be another charming and inspiring children's book and both titles make perfect bedtime stories. If you play music, there's a surprise bonus as well. The dust jacked can be removed to reveal an actual song inspired by Ellie, and the back of the book features an additional melody from Betty. The score was composed by Andrew Jiminez and while I can't read music, I imagine this arrangement is just as beautiful as this book. Read more About the Author Mike Wu is the author and illustrator of Ellie, which was selected as NPR's best of 2015. He is also the illustrator of The Oodlethunks series. When he's not making books, he animates at Pixar, where he has worked on The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, and Toy Story 3, among other movies. He attended the California Institute of the Arts, and he is the creator of children's clothing and gift line Tiny Teru. Mike lives in the Bay Area with his family. Visit him online at theartofmikewu.com. Read more
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