"Whoops! But it wasn't me" By Lauren Child- Reviewed by Allison Fox (Post #1)

This is one of the fun-filled lesson learning books in the popular series Charlie and Lola, which investigates typical and everyday problems faced between a older brother and younger sister. This specific book deals with how Charlie "made the very best thing that he has ever made!" (a rocket) and the temptation grows too strong for Lola to resist playing with it, even though her older brother made her PROMISE that she would not touch it while he was gone. All was fine until Lola's imaginary friend, Soren Lorensen, acts as her bad influence and convinces her to get down the rocket to go to "elephant land". Of course, the ever so wonderful rocket gets knocked down in the process. The lesson of the book begins as Lola at first tries to deny and cover up her mistake, but eventually comes to the understanding that although she can't fix the rocket, she should fix her relationship with Charlie by telling the truth and apologizing.
I absolutely LOVE the artwork in this series, especially this book. Child's signature collage-style images do an excellent job blending images of real life with hand-drawn cartoons. For example, when Charlie is describing the rocket, it shows real life portraits of the "three cereal boxes, ten yogurt, 28 bottle tops, 157 sweet wrappers and an extra-wide tinfoil sheet" that its building required. The radical change characteristics in the book also include the changing forms of the font, from different sizes like large for yelling and shrinking for whispering, non-linear pictures and words, even includes a picture of a real globe when the rocket circled outer space. The colors of the books are super bright, the characters are made of straight lines, much like stick figures that any child could drawl, and different textures really jump out to the reader. In one scene, the pillows on the couch look nearly 3D. The composition of the book is in complete disharmony, with multiple story lines on the same page, which is universal in the series.
I think this book would tie in excellently if there is a conflict in the classroom about someone messing with another student's personal stuff. The book could also easily relate to those kids who have problems with siblings. I think that all students could see themselves as both Lola, as we are all tempted to do things that we know we shouldn't do, and Charlie, for times that we work so hard on something only to have it ruined. I believe that this book is in Piaget's Preoperational Stage, as it is an everyday story with natural language and focuses on building family relationships. However, I think that all age groups, including college students who have snoopy roommates, would find the story entertaining.