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Grey, Mini Traction Man Is Here!; written and illus. by Mini Grey
Knopf, 2005 32p
Library ed. ISBN 0-375-93191-0 $17.99
Trade ed. ISBN 0-375-83191-6 $15.95
Gr. 2-4
From the Velveteen Rabbit to Toy Story, stories about toys that come alive
attempt to capture the imaginative nature of children at play. Dollhouse occupants
mirror what happens in the real house, toy soldiers march to real wars, and
puppets seek to escape their strings. In this make-believe world, a molded
chunk of painted plastic in a costume can become a hero. Yet the relationship
between a boy and his action figure isn't all fun and games; there's
real work to be done. Ask Traction Man: he knows.
As soon as Traction Man enters his new home as a gift to a young boy, he sees
the evil that has gone unchecked all over the house. Luckily, he has come equipped
with an outfit for every heroic occasion. Before long he is donning his Latex
Space Suit to fight the Evil Pillows ("Ow!' they cry, and
lumber away") and switching into his Jungle Pants and Sweaty Bandanna to
save the Dollies from Wicked Professor Spade. The potential for mischief to be
done, for helpless toys to be menaced by evil, looms large, but there is nothing
Traction Man cannot accomplish with grim-faced determination, his loyal pet Scrubbing
Brush, and an appropriate outfit--until he is forced to wear the all-in-one
knitted green romper suit and matching bonnet the boy's granny made. Traction
Man quickly loses his street cred in this knitted monstrosity; after all, action
hero-dom is a "clothes make the man" profession, and villains and
victims alike laugh at this getup. Will this be the end of Traction Man?
It's the interplay between text and illustrations, which Grey handles with
wit and style, that gives the book its superfunny powers. The text plays it straight,
covering Traction Man's adventures as if they are happening in real time.
Pasted into the illustrations in paper collage, the text mimics comic-book-style
blocks, while the addition of dialogue balloons and sound effects reinforces
the immediacy of the narrative. The illustrations, often from the vantage point
of the boy's imagination, wherein Traction Man appears to act on his own,
use setting to create the boy's inventive playscape--everyday objects
become predators and prey. In the rare instances where readers are allowed to
view the boy pulling Traction Man's strings, so to speak, Grey widens the
perspective, maximizing the information she can make clear in one spread; the
layouts are appealingly haphazard and cluttered while the focal objects are easily
differentiated with thick, black outlines. Readers will enjoy poring over each
family scene and anticipating where Traction Man will have his next adventure,
noting, for example, the opened cereal boxes, broken eggs, crumbs, and dirty
dishes strewn about in the kitchen. They'll be rewarded for their attention
to detail as the overloaded sink turns out to hold an underwater wreck with sea
creatures and a monster that Traction Man must subdue ("Oh no! This Poisonous
Dishcloth will envelop Traction Man and suffocate him!").
Traction Man himself is a square-jawed, beefy figure who projects cool-headed,
tensile readiness in even the direst situations ("Traction Man is guarding
some toast"). Still, he is not implacable: his expressive eyes and eyebrows
allow readers a glimpse of the man beneath the costume. Readers will therefore
pity him when his face falls like a sullen child's upon his being forced
into the romper suit and bonnet, and they will cheer him as he realizes that
a true hero doesn't let a humiliating outfit stop him from his duty.
Finally, Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush relax, basking on a book-raft floating
in the wide Carpet Sea. An action figure's life is a dangerous one, however,
so peace is sure to be short lived (note the scissors swimming, sharklike, nearby).
Readers who notice the boy's letter to Santa on the title page, telling
what befell Traction Man's predecessor (in "the Terrible Parachute
Accident"), will realize that the boy has more in store for his hero, but
like him, we're sure Traction Man is "ready for anything."
Krista Hutley , Reviewer
Cover illustration by Mini Grey from Traction Man Is Here! ©2005.
Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf
This page was last updated on May 1, 2005.