School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Charlie and Lola, two endearing siblings featured in books and in a popular television series, are back just in time for Lola's "first ever school photo." She wants to be "tidy and clean" to please her mum, but it isn't "easy peasy, lemon squeezy." Lola gets her stockings muddy in a game of puddles. She gets wet playing at the water tray and spills pink milk on her clothes at lunch. While painting with her friend Lotta, she gets handprints on her face. She's neither tidy nor clean in the school picture taken with Charlie, but her big brother knows what to do. Together they make a collage of Lola from old photos, and the resulting image shows off her great smile. The illustrations are clever collages of Charlie and Lola, taken from the TV animation and arranged with other cut-outs, photos of real objects, and patterned papers. The colors are bright and the contrast is appealing. The text is based on the TV script. Words are sometimes large, sometimes bold, and sometimes wiggly. Children will identify with Lola and remember times when an older sibling made things right. Pair this story with Lynne Plourde's School Picture Day (Dutton, 2002) to lighten the tensions children feel before the event.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
In this third book in creator Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola series, which is based on a television series, Lola is excited about her first-ever school photo. Charlie cautions that she must stay tidy and clean, which Lola believes will be easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Charlie, however, is unconvinced, and true to her nature, Lola makes a mess. She's discouraged by her photos, but Charlie offers a solution that soon has her smiling again. Parents will like the positive focus (Mum always says I'm a good smiler, Lola comments), and both children and adult readers will like the message that kids should be kids in all their messy, high-energy glory. Child's collages combine graphically imposed real objects with simply drawn characters and are colored with funky patterns that emphasize their childlike quality. The style and design will keep the audience focused on what's most important Lola's connection with every kid or every kid-at-heart. Child's familiar character remains full of optimism, good intentions, and single-mindedness. A good read-aloud, this also begs to be passed around.--Jensen, Rebecca Copyright 2007 Booklist
![Cover image for Say cheese! / characters created by Lauren Child ; [text based on the script written by Samantha Hill ; illustrations from the TV animation produced by Tiger Aspect].](/client/assets/5.898/ctx//client/images/no_image.png "Cover image for Say cheese! / characters created by Lauren Child ; [text based on the script written by Samantha Hill ; illustrations from the TV animation produced by Tiger Aspect].")