Wally, the Worry-Warthog

Hazen, Barbara Shook

ISBN 10: 0899198961 ISBN 13: 9780899198965

Publisher: Clarion Books, 1990

Synopsis

Wally's excessive worries about bully Wilberforce Warthog and menacing trolls under the bridge he takes to school come to a head when Wally and Wilberforce collide one day on the dreaded bridge

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- Grizzly bears, ghosts, and little green men from Mars are among the many things worrying Wally the warthog. Still worse is his fear of the saber-toothed trolls beneath the bridge he must cross on his way to school each day. But his worst worry centers on huge and hairy Wilberforce Warthog, who never smiles and wears big double-thick gloves covering who-knows-what. In a showdown midway across the bridge one day, Wilberforce's gloves fall off, revealing ordinary paws with nails bitten to the quick; when the two warthogs discover that they are both anxiety-ridden, a friendship begins. The familiar theme is brought to life here more through the pictures than through the bland, almost superfluous text. Stevens's illustrations loom large--there is movement in every drawing and the scary things truly reflect the wild running of the warthogs' imaginations. The use of proportion underscores the overwhelming power of fear--in most illustrations, the warthogs are dwarfed by the exaggerated objects of their anxiety. Adults looking to read a story about overcoming fears may react negatively to the menacing illustrations and resort to old standbys such as Mercer Mayer's There's a Nightmare in My Closet (Dial, 1968).
- Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0899198961
• ISBN 13: 9780899198965
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Stevens Janet