Ping and Pong

Deborah Dowson is a children’s librarian in Pickering, Ontario.

David McPhail has created a paradox in picture-book format by adapting
Dennis Lee’s poem “Peter Ping and Patrick Pong.” This unusual book
begins with an absurd situation in which a bear and a boy are confused
at the hospital and sent home with the wrong parents. The story concerns
the relationship of the two characters who begin their lives as
adversaries, eventually learn to tolerate each other, and finally find
lasting friendship. Their similarities seem to be the source of their
conflict, but also form the basis of a lifelong friendship.

Ping and Pong is a departure from the usual work produced by this
popular author and illustrator team. The plot is told in comic-book
style with the help of balloon captions. For example, the heading “At
Home: The Joys of Child-Rearing” pictures father Ping with a face full
of mush that was thrown at him, and the Pong family cat holding its nose
by the diaper pail. The sarcasm will be puzzling to young children, and
because of its format it is a difficult book to read aloud.

For adults and older children, the work may be amusing, if something of
a curiosity. As if anticipating criticism for this enigma of a book,
David McPhail is quoted as saying “Blame Dennis,” while Dennis Lee
is quoted as saying “Blame David.” Their comments suggest that this
work is an inside joke and not to be taken too seriously. Recommended
with reservations.