Early Reader Review

Bink and Gollie
Written by Kate DiCamillo and Allison McGhee
Illustrated by Tony Fucile
Age Range: 6-9

Published 2010 by Candlewick Press

ISBN:978-0763659547

MSRP: $15.99

Awards:
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year (2010)
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (2011)

Friendship is a common theme in children’s books. Frog and Toad, George and Martha, Elephant and Piggie: the list goes on. So when I first picked up Bink & Gollie, written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile, there was a part of me that wondered why such an acclaimed author as DiCamillo felt the urge to journey down such well-trod ground. Surely she couldn’t reinvent the wheel; why not give us another Newbery winner instead? (Of course she did this anyway just a couple of years later, with Flora & Ulysses.)

I am so pleased to admit that my negative judgments were completely unwarranted. Bink and Gollie are the sweetest, most delightful odd couple to come through children’s literature in quite a while. They have no back story and their relationship is never explained – the reader opens the book to a fully-realized friendship between the effervescent, impulsive Bink and the more even-keeled, deliberate Gollie. Each girl seems to live alone, despite the fact that they are children: Bink in a homey cottage at the base of a giant tree and Gollie in a sleek modernist pad at the tree’s top. The book comprises three separate stories, each of which is a testament to the deep regard the two have for each other. Tony Fucile’s illustrations are darling, and his method of making Bink and Gollie bright spots of color in an otherwise monochromatic world further highlights their close bond.

The story is told only in pictures and dialogue – no descriptive text. The dialogue is skillfully written to reflect the differences in the girls’ personalities: Gollie says things like, “I must inform you that you are giving a home to a truly unremarkable fish”, and tells Bink to use her “gray matter” when she feels her friend is being daft. Bink’s speech is a lot more casual and illustrates her more carefree attitude. The writing is very tight. In fewer words than are in this post, DiCamillo and McGhee create vignettes that are highly entertaining, yet tap into some pretty deep emotions between the two girls as well.

The content is appropriate for all ages, and both readers and nonreaders will enjoy this book. The language is not too difficult for beginning readers and the dialogue between Bink and Gollie is perfect for a two-person read-aloud session. In the past I have taken one of the roles and let a child have the other, with great success. Bink and Gollie are a great pair, and fortunately there is more where this book came from. DiCamillo, McGhee and Fucile released Bink & Gollie: Two for One in 2013 and Bink & Gollie: Friends Forever in 2014. 

Readalikes:
Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin
Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell
Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst