LITTLE YAU

Cannon revisits the reclusive, catlike Fuzzheads introduced in Trupp (1999), for an offbeat rite-of-passage tale. When apprentice herbalist Yau finds her errant friend Trupp unconscious, victim of a human poison, she accompanies Wise Ones Rowl, Rup, and Eermp into human territory in search of the rare vine that provides the only cure. As before, though Fuzzheads look like crosses between pumas and polar bears in Cannon’s liquidly realistic paintings, once they don clothing and stand on two legs, the people they meet don’t seem to notice that they’re different. Several nerve-wracking encounters later, Yau finds the vine, rushes it back in time to save Trupp, and earns an invitation from the Wise Ones to move on to the next level of study. As is her wont, Cannon pairs a wordy but uncomplicated adventure to whimsical, technically accomplished art—giving readers of both simple and sophisticated taste something to appreciate. (Picture book. 7-9)