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Syd Hoff (1912 to 2004) had a long career as a cartoonist and author of children’s books. He wrote and illustrated around 60 books in Harper and Row’s Early I Can Read series. His books in this series are known for their simple yet entertaining stories and humorous, colorful, cartoon-like illustrations.
The two books reviewed here, from that series, are Walpole and Barkley. Walpole is a walrus, large and strong but gentle. The other walruses want him to be the leader and protect them against polar bears, but Walpole wants to take care of orphaned baby walruses. The events of the story serve to unite these two disparate activities to the happiness of all. Barkley is a circus dog who does amazing tricks, until one day he finds he is getting old and can’t keep up with the younger dogs. He runs away but eventually ends up back in the circus teaching his tricks to the younger dogs. As the saying goes, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but Barkley shows that old dogs can teach old tricks to younger dogs! Both of these books are great read-aloud books and good first books for new readers. Their gentle humor, simple language, and interesting stories make them ideal for this purpose.
Other Syd Hoff titles that people should enjoy include Sammy the Seal (my personal favorite), Julius, Oliver, Chester, and Albert the Albatross. The titles that I know from his “Early I Can Read” books are worth parents’ attention and good for children’s enjoyment.