Up and Down — Etienne Delessert

2021-06-29A kid takes a unique elevator ride.A young child presses an elevator button to summon it. Accompanied by some unusual-looking animals, the kid ascends. The text is almost entirely composed of idiomatic expressions that include the word up (“What’s up?” “Fired up!” “Jazzed up!” etc.). Beginning on the ground floor, the kid encounters a different expression (and animal companions) on each floor, depicted in a quirky, imaginative fashion. If the point is to help readers clearly understand what the expressions mean, it doesn’t generally succeed. Wrapped up is illustrated with a picture of the kid paddling a canoe, joined by a rabbit and a bird, for instance. Some interpretations fare very slightly better: What’s up? features multiple rabbits carefully listening to their cellphones; Jazzed up! shows the kid, a trio of mice, and three extremely large rats playing music; Spruced up! depicts the kid painting white birds with bright colors. As the elevator reaches the sixth floor, nighttime has fallen, and the kid goes “back down,” the only departure from phrases with up. Since none of the up expressions connote actual levitation, the elevator conceit feels irrelevant; a playground swing or seesaw might have worked as well (or poorly) to represent up-and-down movement. Readers will likely have no better grasp of the expressions after perusing this book than before. However, the charmingly surreal and brightly colored illustrations may garner attention. The kid presents White. Pass this up or turn it down, as you will. (Picture book. 5-8)