K. DiPucchio, author. Z.OHora, illustrator. Disney Hyperion, 2018

Kelly DiPucchio is one of my favourite picture book authors. She’s funny. She’s a wordsmith. And she always leaves a few wide open spaces for the illustrator to get really silly. POE WON’T GO did not disappoint. Among other things, it includes alliteration, ‘Easter eggs’ for adults to discover and some darn some cute lines. I chuckled particularly loudly at the person dressed in a peanut costume that tries to entice Poe to go (but he still won’t). The narrator’s comment on this spread is perfection: “Seriously?”

Umpteen attempts of the townspeople and beyond fail to coerce Poe to move from the middle of the only road in Prickly Valley. Then a young girl named Marigold simply asks Poe why he won’t go. No one thought of doing that before, because no one speaks elephant. Marigold does speak elephant (and kitten and hedgehog), and discovers, at last, why POE WON’T GO. The subtle message, of listening hard enough to hear all voices, adds to this picture book’s staying power on home and library shelves.