Slim and Jim - Hardcover

Egielski, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060283521 ISBN 13: 9780060283520

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

When a homeless rat named Slim is forced into a life of crime, he encounters a kind young mouse named Jim, who's willing to take him in and give him a chance. But when Slim's checkered past catches up to him, their friendship is put to the test. Together they must do battle with the evil villain Buster, relying upon their faith in one another -- and their yo-yos.

In this Oliver Twist for tots, Richard Egielski tells a tale of true friendship and creates characters as memorable as Fagin, Bill Sikes, and the Artful Dodger.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Egielski is the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of Hey, Al and many other books for children, including the Tub People series by Pam Conrad. He is also the author and illustrator of Buz and Jazper, both New York Times Best Illustrated Books, Three Magic Balls, and The Gingerbread Boy. Mr. Egielski lives in Milford, New Jersey, with his wife and son.

From Publishers Weekly:

In a derelict city inhabited by animals, homeless young rat Slim befriends privileged mouse Jim in this uplifting tale of an unlikely pair. They meet when a pirate-like cat bullies Slim into burglarizing an apartment. Jim interrupts the robbery, and Slim saves Jim's life. Afterward, these rodents from opposite sides of the tracks discover a shared passion for yo-yo tricks, like a triple around-the-world super-loop combo... a crazy cradle, a barrel roll, and a flying saucer. Slim moves into Jim's family's home, despite interspecies mistrust and the tomcat's attempt to lure Slim back into the underworld. By this account of social difference, Slim's always a suspect and Jim's always a peach, although readers are assured otherwise (Now you and I know that Jim was right and Slim intended to go back home, rather than steal from Jim's family). Egielski (Three Magic Balls) fashions an eerily magnetic world, a cross between Dickens's down-and-out London, the melting-pot-era Lower East Side and a contemporary dystopia. A palette of antique honey-browns and warm charcoal-grays creates a nostalgic atmosphere, yet the pictured frogs, pigeons and other creatures drive small cars. Indecipherable shop signs, lettered in a swirling script, suggest an alien language, but a flashy yo-yo plays the Beatles' Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. With its oddball characters and anachronistic allusions to pop culture, Egielski's weird yet welcoming animal realm recalls those created by Art Spiegelman and Tim Egan. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060283521
• ISBN 13: 9780060283520
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Egielski Richard