Pingo the Plaid Panda

Convinced that the other pandas will not play with him because he is plaid, Pingo takes steps to make himself look more like them.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K-- The story of Pingo, whose plaid markings render him different from the other, more traditionally marked pandas. When, one day, they fail to hail him as he walks by (head down), he concludes that they do not like him because he's plaid. He dyes his fur black, is immediately more confident, and greets the other pandas happily (something he neglected to do before), and they tell him they thought he didn't like them. "Being plaid has nothing to do with it," concludes Pingo happily, on his way home to a bath. A rather complicated childhood problem is both presented and solved here with deceptive simplicity. Although the message that people will be friendly if given a chance is a welcome and useful one, things do not always work out that easily and, while it is nice to see Pingo accept himself as he is, it seems rather sad that this self-acceptance comes only after he realizes that he has not been rejected by others. Taken on the surface, however, this is a light-hearted story written in rattlingly rhythmic prose with wonderfully described action. Leedy's lovably cartoon-like animals are drawn with much attention to humorous detail that includes a sleepy Siamese cat draped over the periphery of the action. The message here is reassuring if shallow; the story stands as brief, forgettable fun. --Christine Behrmann, New York Public LibraryCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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