GROUNDHOG'S RUNAWAY SHADOW

A groundhog mutiny! Will Phil’s shadow ever return?

Phil Groundhog is so fast the only thing that can keep up with him is his shadow. When he was little, doing everything together was fun for both of them. But now that Phil’s grown up, he’s left behind childish things, carrying a briefcase and wearing a tie. “Shadow, not so much.” When Phil plays the accordion, Shadow wails out on a trumpet, not always on key. At a nice restaurant, Shadow fills the air with burps. Finally, Phil loses his temper and tells his shadow to “just go away!” Shadow is crushed, then angry, then realizes that he’s always wanted to travel; off he goes. But while Shadow is checking out the pyramids, Phil is searching high and low to find him. He posts signs and puts an ad in the newspaper, to no avail. One day Phil sees an article about a mysterious shadow near the Eiffel Tower. Meanwhile, after all the initial excitement, Shadow realizes that he’s lonely too. Phil and Shadow find each other for a buoyant musical reunion, Phil on accordion and the shadow on trumpet. Biedrzycki’s fable on friendship comes to hilarious life with his bold, colorful, loopy illustrations, done in Adobe Photoshop. His judicious mix of panels and full-bleed spreads expertly controls the book’s pacing.

Delightful.