What's the Opposite?

November 2, 2015
As he did in 2014’s None the Number, Jeffers uses his bean-shaped Hueys for more concretely instructive aims in this playful exploration of basic opposites including up/down, big/small, and happy/sad. Ample visual humor brings entertainment value to the learning—sawing down a tree is one way to get a stuck cat from “high” to “low,” and three pages follow the shifting fortunes of an “unlucky” Huey stranded on a hot desert island; an oscillating fan washes up, a “lucky” break, until the Huey notices the lack of electrical outlets. A board book edition is available simultaneously, befitting the concept-driven nature of this story. Ages 3–5. Agent: Paul Moreton, Bell, Lomax, Moreton Agency.

October 1, 2015
Hooray! Jeffers' Hueys return]not in a story, but in a concept book about opposites. It opens with two Hueys failing to determine the opposite of "the beginning" but then succeeding in naming those for other words like "up," "high," "cold," and so on. Jeffers deftly exploits interdependence of art and text as illustrations present the opposing concepts with humor and panache. For example, the text reading "And the opposite of high]" is accompanied by a picture of a cat in a tree exclaiming "UH-oh!" while one Huey gazes up in concern, his coffee cup on the ground before him, and another strides toward the tree with a handsaw. The facing page resolves the opposite with the phrase "is low" and shows the felled tree and the cat sitting on a stump licking its paw. "Thanks," it says]but that's not all that's happening on this page: the other Huey now stands bereft while gazing at his smashed coffee cup on the ground under the tree. Such humor punctuates many spreads, but some scenarios are a bit harder to read than others (the happy/sad juxtaposition requires a fair amount of sophistication, for instance). The conclusion, finally naming the opposite of the beginning as "the end," is crystal clear and funny to boot. A clever concept book from beginning to end. (Picture book. 3-6)

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Starred review from December 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 1-Jeffers's minimalist, oval-shaped Hueys are back, and this time they're talking about opposites. A white Huey starts the conversation by asking a pink one, "What's the opposite of the beginning?" When no good answer is forthcoming ("Is it yes?"), the helpful Huey proceeds to introduce more opposites to his friend, such as "up" and "down" and "high" and "low." A cat who runs up a tree (but has difficulty getting back down) becomes a running motif throughout the illustrations. Blue, purple, and orange Hueys soon join the game as well, introducing such pairs as "light" and "heavy" and "happy" and "sad." Some humor is fairly sophisticated, like a Huey who can't tell the difference between a "half full" and "half empty" glass, and another who finds that the "lucky" fan that's washed ashore on his desert island "unluckily" requires an electrical outlet. Throughout, Jeffers uses his characteristic simple shapes and colors, placed amid abundant white space, to evoke humor, frustration, and surprise. As in many of his other picture books, the main text appears in a large serif font, while characters' commentary appears in smaller, cursive-style handwriting. Predictably, the opening question is revisited at the close of the book, when it's finally answered with "The end." VERDICT An amusing twist on the traditional concept book by a beloved master of shape and line.-Jill Ratzan, I. L. Peretz Community Jewish School, Somerset, NJ

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Starred review from October 1, 2015
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Welcome back, Hueys, you of the stick-limbed, pill-shaped bodies with faces drawn smack in the middle. Today the Hueys are taking on opposites, although the pink-colored Huey finds the opposite of the beginning a real head-scratcher. Perhaps it would be best to start with easier stuff. Up? Down. High? Well, low, especially once a Huey saws down their tree. Throughout, young readers will have the opportunity to yell the answers to simple opposites like here and there, on and off, and lucky and unlucky, though, of course, all the subtext (and delicious humor) is in the art. Little blue Huey is unlucky because he is stranded on a sweltering desert island, lucky when a box with a fan washes up on shore, and, alas, unlucky again because it requires an electrical outlet. Even readers who know the basics of opposites will get their minds blown here, as a glass is considered half full on one page but also half empty on the next. It's not easy to be so very simple and so very clever, but Jeffers manages in this laugh-aloud offering that will get groups giggling. In the last spread, pink Huey learns the opposite of the beginning: The End.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Hueys themselves will drive demand, and by now readers expect Jeffers to churn out roughly two total gems per year. Order wisely.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)