Cameron and Me

Ted McGee is an associate professor of English specializing in
children’s literature at St. Jerome’s College, University of
Waterloo.

“There’s a new baby at our house. ... I wish he’d go away. ...
Then there would be only me.” So begins this elegant story of sibling
rivalry. The simplicity of style suits the narrator, Zachary, who first
has to come to terms with the arrival of a baby brother who keeps his
mother busy and who gets all the gifts, along with the “oohs” and
“aahs.” Later comes Cameron the toddler, who disrupts Zachary’s
games and takes his toys. But when a third child arrives, Zachary not
only sees Cameron’s upset, but responds to it with gifts, cookies,
juice, and a helping hand. The hopeful arc of the tale is marked by the
shift from Zachary’s initial desire for “only me” to his final one
for “only ... Cameron and me.”

Watercolor illustrations capture expressive faces in sharp focus. Mets
frames each picture with a blue line and then complicates the point of
view by letting things spill over the frame. Most important are the
images of certain colorful toys that the boys both play with and,
ultimately, share. With the recurrence of these images, visual and
verbal elements cohere in telling the same story of rivalry giving way
to brotherhood. Highly recommended.