Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/15/2013 Ah, best friendship. Short, wild-haired Bink and tall, neat-haired Gollie epitomize its ups and downs. In this sequel to Bink & Gollie (2010) and Bink & Gollie: Two for One (2012), DiCamillo and McGhee once again cleverly merge early reader, graphic novel, and picture book into a delightful ode to an unlikely duo. In the first of three short chapters, Gollie, looking through an old family album, finds a picture of crown-wearing Aunt Natasha, dated 1908, which confirms what she’s long suspected: “royal blood flowed in my veins.” So Gollie dons an impressive outfit of crown and scepter; only, Bink is not impressed, especially since no pancakes are involved in celebrating the royal news. The second finds Bink struggling with her petite stature, and so she orders the “Stretch-O-Matic” to try and lengthen herself out. Finally, in the last adventure, Bink and Gollie look into breaking a world record. Droll, and with spot-on emotions, this return of the dynamic, roller-skating pair will make fans cheer. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 04/01/2013 Gr 1–3—Bink and Gollie dream of royalty, fame, and stature in three amusing tales. In "Empire of Enchantment," Gollie is certain that queenly blood flows through her veins when she finds a picture of a regal aunt. She drives Bink crazy with all her airs. She sweeps through the streets complimenting the townsfolk on "their efforts on behalf of the empire." When it starts to rain, Gollie's snooty demeanor falters, and she's back to her old self. In the second story, Bink decides to get a Stretch-O-Matic since she is sick of being short and is sure that this device will do the trick. She is suspended from the ceiling in the complicated contraption when flabbergasted Gollie walks in. The whole thing comes crashing down, but Bink comes up with a creative way to fix the machine and feel tall at the same time. In "Kudos, Bink and Gollie," the friends decide to become famous by appearing in Flicker's Arcana of the Extraordinary, a Guinness Book of World Records-type compilation. Figuring that some sort of collection will land them in the book, they head off to Eccles' Empire of Enchantment. They buy 100 packages of 66 gold stickers each that they are sure is their ticket to fame. The plan doesn't pan out, but the clever duo comes up with a face-saving solution. The first story would make a fun read-aloud, as it lends itself to using alternately haughty and exasperated voices. All three stories feature Fucile's expressive and attitude-filled line drawings. Another humorous selection for those just beginning to dip into chapter books.—Diane McCabe, John Muir Elementary, Santa Monica, CA - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2013 Welcome back, Bink and Gollie (from Bink and Gollie, BCCB 10/10, and Bink and Gollie: Two for One, BCCB 7/12)! In this new set of adventures, the friends negotiate Gollie’s belief that she is of royal blood, Bink’s employment of a contraption to make herself taller, and their shared determination to get their picture featured in a Guinness-like tome called Flicker’s Arcana of the Extraordinary. The plots don’t have quite the snap of the previous outings, but the text (almost all dialogue) retains its comic joy as it veers between Gollie’s formal drawl (“I have long suspected that royal blood flowed in my veins”) and Bink’s ebullience (“Good news almost always means pancakes!”). As usual, Fucile packs his lines with springy energy, with even languid Gollie watchably angular and loose-limbed, while fizzbomb-y Bink, with her explosive hair, practically leaps off the pages. The page design has the lively paneled momentum and theatrical views of a graphic novel, and it effectively partners with the few swift sentences per spread to move novice readers easily through the book. Readers should meet Bink and Gollie first in their earlier titles, but those already fast friends with the girls won’t want to miss their new adventures. DS - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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