OKIE-DOKIE, ARTICHOKIE!

Marklee, a monkey, receives a slightly stiff greeting when he excitedly welcomes his new downstairs giraffe neighbor, Artichoke. Marklee promises to be a good neighbor and asks Artichoke to bang on the ceiling if things get too loud. As the days progress, every bit of normal activity Marklee does in his apartment results in two bangs from the apartment below. Marklee’s attempt to reconcile the situation is lost on Artichoke when he does not hear the door knock while listening to music through headphones. Offended and calling his downstairs neighbor a grump, Marklee’s anger escalates to the point of refusing to acknowledge Artichoke at all, when in fact his new neighbor is really banging his head on the ceiling because of his extreme height. Mixed-media drawings with bold primary colors in a coloring book–outline style simply project the sequence of events leading to a Christmas delivery of special giraffe ceiling pillows that helps to clear up a misunderstanding and culminates in a budding friendship. Mildly pleasant and amicable. (Picture book. 3-5)