May I Bring a Friend?

"Any friend of our friend/Is most welcome here," says the King to the Queen in May I Bring a Friend?--and so our hero brings a giraffe to tea.  Thus begins a genuinely childlike jingle, which Beni Montresor's imaginative illustrations enliven to perfection.  A truly startling series of animals is introduced to the royal couple, who rise to each occasion with the greatest aplomb and good humor, while the reader follows their contretemps with delight.  Montresor's deft counterpoint of wildly theatrical color and plain black and white is a major force in this enchanting nonsense.  With constant shifts between the glowing animal scenes and the placid representation of royal domesticity, there is a highly successful interplay of character and incident to heighten the absurdity of the whole.  In addition, the artist's inclusion of innumerable small details makes a book, which will be re-read with ever-increasing pleasure.