Little Echo

September 15, 2022
A shy echo finds her voice just in time to save a young cave explorer. In an episode that's stronger on feelings than logic, an unhappy cave echo--embodied in the garish, heavily daubed illustrations as a yellow, rabbitlike creature with outsized ears--looks on longingly yet hides from the other animals who play together joyfully. All that changes when she follows a light-skinned lad named Max as he enters in search of treasure, saves him from a bear by shouting "RUN!" (a bad strategy IRL), and then joins him in further explorations until they give up on the treasure and take to playing pirates. In the final scene, the now fast friends sit together, sharing marshmallows and chattering together...atop a disregarded pile of glittering gold. If the symbolism of that image is obvious enough to need no pointing out, the import of Max noticing Little Echo only when she speaks up for herself is oblique enough to be, possibly, unintentional and does need unpacking. Still, their bonding makes for a cozier resolution than the tragic lack of one in the classic "Echo and Narcissus" myth. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A warm subterranean friendship tale, though unlikely to get many repeat readings...ings...ings. (Picture book. 5-8)

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