THE WILLS AND THE WON'TS

When two neighbors’ bickering gets out of hand, their communities back up their own, to everyone’s detriment.

The Wills and the Won’ts look identical—bulbous bodies of different sizes and shapes, stick limbs, and black hair—save for their skin color: Wills are orange, Won’ts are blue. But no matter their similarities, when two who share a hill finally lose their patience and begin to build a wall, it doesn’t take long or much provocation (blame her!) for each side to see—and treat—the other as hated enemies. Soon, the walls are all anyone can see. Vocabulary emphasizes negative feelings and names: fool, anger, fury, meanness, spite, danger. “The walls made it tricky for people to hear, / so insults were guessed at and doubt became fear.” That is, until a young, orange May, dismayed at being trapped by a wall that sports an ironic sign—“Losers! We win!”—dislodges a single brick and sees a friendly blue face on the other side who declares maybe they are a Could instead of a Won’t. The new peace spreads just as quickly as the hate did, and the walls come down, differences mattering less than what’s in their hearts and their desire to be free. The rhyming text keeps the Seussian tale moving, and Garrigue’s characters’ facial expressions and body language are easy to read, and his scenes are full of whimsical details. (This book was reviewed digitally; the review has been updated for factual accuracy.)

Timely and important.