Lawn to Lawn

by Dan Yaccarino

Overview

Not everyone loves lawn ornaments. But Pearl was different. Pearl was their friend—the only human who knew they were real.

So when Pearl’s family moves and (shockingly!) leaves their pink flamingo, deer, gnome, and lawn jockey behind, Flo, Betty, Norm, and Jack know what they must do. They must find Pearl no matter how long and perilous the journey.

Through cities and suburbs, over mountains and through swamps, the ornaments make their dangerous way. They survive storms and menacing gargoyles. They get directions from weather vanes and other statuary. And always, always, they must avoid the dreaded trash truck!

In this hysterical and quirky tale of toys-come-to-life, Dan Yaccarino reminds us that home is where the heart is and that no journey is too difficult when it leads to the one you love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375986307
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	01/26/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dan Yaccarino is an internationally acclaimed author-illustrator with more than 30 books to his credit. Dan is also the creator of the animated TV series Oswald. He lives in New York City with his wife and their two children.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2009:
“Yaccarino’s endearing, earnest characters are worth getting to know.”

Review, Booklist, December 1, 2009:
"A keeper."

Review, Publishers Weekly, December 21, 2009:
"In sinuous contemporary art, Yaccarino humorously considers the secret lives of inanimate objects."

Editorial Reviews

Four ticky-tacky decorations—a flamingo, a gnome, a lawn jockey, and a deer with half an ear—ponder their future when their owners move away. They miss Pearl, the girl who “knew that they were real,” and they face other threats: “ 'If we stay here,' said Betty, 'the new owners may store us in the garage—or, worse...' 'The curb!' they all said.” Mindful of being mistaken for garbage, they leave the downscale cottage in search of Pearl's new gated community, Ritzy Estates. Yaccarino (The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau) gives the ornaments salt-of-the-earth names—Flo, Betty, Norm, and Jack—and places them in droll situations, which often appear in side panels, lending the tale a storyboard quality. During their journey, the four pose as water features in a fountain, walk along stacked like the Bremen Town Musicians, and get directions from Paul Bunyan. Other gnomes, RV-park flamingos, and racetrack jockeys also temporarily distract them, but they persevere. In sinuous contemporary art, Yaccarino humorously considers the secret lives of inanimate objects and lampoons the vagaries of taste: “Some people didn't love lawn ornaments the way Pearl did.” Ages 5–9. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—When Pearl's family moves, they forget to pack their lawn ornaments. Betty (a deer), Flo (a flamingo), Norm (a gnome), and Jack (a jockey) have a special fondness for the little girl and set off to find her. They face many perils, especially since "Only Pearl knew that they were real.… Some people didn't love lawn ornaments the way Pearl did." Sequential cartoon illustrations that resemble animation stills chart the foursome's madcap trip as they pop up from manhole covers in the city, climb snow-covered mountains, and trek across swamps and fields. They finally arrive at Ritzy Estates, only to be rudely refused entry by "snooty" marble lions. Dejected, they sit on the curb and are then tossed into the back of a "dreaded trash truck." As it turns out, their nemesis drives them right through the gates and into the arms of Pearl. The art is done in a flat, retro style and is filled with amusing and clever details. The characters have an offbeat charm, and their longing for a lost friend rings true.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

After their friend Pearl moves, four tacky lawn ornaments hit the road looking for her new home in Ritzy Estates. Betty (a deer), Flo (a flamingo), Norm (a garden gnome) and Jack (a jockey, Caucasian) must stick together during an arduous journey and evade the dreaded trash truck-once a trash truck takes an ornament, "it never comes back!" The colorful gang meets both creepy and helpful statuary along the way: Gargoyles follow them, gnomes offer assistance, a fast-food burger-boy points the way. Yaccarino offers young readers a world of cool duality, in which objects alternately talk, feel and move-and then don't. Illustrations, although vivid, communicate only freeze-frame flatness, making the ornaments appear caught in halted animation and reinforcing the book's magic. Bustling adults remain oblivious to the statues' conversations, travels and communities, while child readers see everything. Young readers will relish experiencing and knowing something that adults do not or can not. Although many children might not have seen lawn ornaments before, Yaccarino's endearing, earnest characters are worth getting to know. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2009:
“Yaccarino’s endearing, earnest characters are worth getting to know.”

Review, Booklist, December 1, 2009:
"A keeper."

Review, Publishers Weekly, December 21, 2009:
"In sinuous contemporary art, Yaccarino humorously considers the secret lives of inanimate objects."

From the Publisher