Freckleface Strawberry and Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully by Julianne Moore, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Just look at the energy that jumps off even these tiny thumbnail covers. What’s not to love?
In her debut, our spunky heroine, whom everyone calls Freckleface Strawberry, needs to “get rid of her freckles fast.” She tries everything from scrubbing them off, coloring herself with markers, and eventually hides herself under a colorful disguise … which just makes her sad and lonely until she realizes, “Who care[s] about having a million freckles when she had a million friends?” And life is joyful once again.
In the recent follow-up, Freckleface returns in all her gleeful glory to confront that scary, hairy dodgeball, which seems to come attached with overgrown Windy Pants Patrick. And she learns that friendship can appear in the most unexpected packages.
Yes, Freckleface is the creation of THAT Julianne Moore. The resemblance is just ticklish fun. But what really brings the adorable one to life is thanks to the prolific talents of illustrator LeUyen Pham who imbues her with colorful, delightful spirit – the kind that just makes you want to run down a giant hill with arms outstretched screaming “wahhhhhhhhh” convinced that you might just lift off. Which is exactly happens in Pham’s illustrations here … Freckleface lifts off beyond the page: Just look at her expressions while she works those lemons or the complete trust in her eyes when she offers the ball back to Windy Pants Patrick. Indeed, Pham creates a little bit of true magic.
Readers: Children
Published: 2007 and 2009
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