<p>Young Otto loves orange so much that when a sly genie rises up out of an old lamp he receives from Aunt Sally Lee, he uses his one wish to turn all the world that color. His ensuing bliss changes to blues, though, after he gets a gander at his orange lunch and then sees what happens on the street when every traffic light is the same color. Cammuso illustrates comics veteran Lynch's tale in neatly drawn sequential panels, casting Otto as a cat (marmalade, of course) in human dress and pairing him with a blue, distinctly Disneyesque genie. Discovering that said genie hasn't eaten in 880 years, Otto cleverly calls on the persuasive power of pizza to reverse the wish, and by the end all's well. Low on violence and high on production values, this comics-format "Toon Book" will leave emergent readers wishing for more. (Early reader. 5-7)</p>

Gr 1-3 Two veteran cartoonists collaborate to create a comic-strip-style book for beginning readers. Otto, an orange cat, receives a mysterious lamp from his aunt. While dusting it off, he releases the genie that resides within and is offered a wish as a reward. Otto declares that he would like everything in the world to be orange, his favorite color; however, after his wish is granted, the resultsincluding a bad-tasting orange lamb chop and an orange-only traffic light that causes car accidentssoon cause him to have second thoughts. With the help of Aunt Sally Lee, Otto outsmarts the genie and sets things right. Each page features one to four panels, and the bulk of the story is told through dialogue balloons. The cartoons are lively and colorful. Clear chapter divisions, a clean graphic design, and large-size print make this title more appropriate for early readers than most comic-book offerings. Still, true beginners may have trouble with some of the vocabulary and struggle to follow the narrative flow. Offer this to book readers with a bit of experience under their belts and an interest in comics and cartoons. Joy Fleishhacker , School Library Journal

Starred Review Written by 60s underground comic guru Lynch and Eisner-nominated Cammuso, who also did the artwork, this book in the new TOON imprint gives emerging readers a high-quality comic that is both loads of fun and easy to read. It's a simple, archetypal story: Otto, a little orange-loving cat, wishes "everything was orange," but when a genie grants his wish, he realizes that he should have been more careful what he wished for: orange lamb chops . . . "Blaach!!!" This is a textbook example of how to use page composition, expanding panel size, color, and stylized figures to make sequential art fresh, energetic, and lively. With the particular pedigree of the book's creators, however, one can't help but miss avant-garde subversiveness that made Little Lit books (e.g., Strange Stories for Strange Kids, 2001) for older children so thrilling and unique. Even without that element, though, this book is sure to engage a new generation in the art form; kids will want to read it once, then return to it again and again.