Barnaby and Mr. Ling

Fran Ashdown was the Head of the Children's Department, Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library.

Produced in the style of previous successful Annick titles, Barnaby and Mr. Ling chronicles the adventures of an unhappy circus elephant and his friend Mr. Ling, the peanut man. Barnaby, like many humans, is experiencing job dissatisfaction and yearns for a career that won’t require him to wear a funny costume or perform silly tricks. When Mr. Ling observes Barnaby’s unhappiness and asks the reason, he realizes that they share a dream of an alternate lifestyle and the pair plan to run away together. They escape and establish a home in a private corner of a park. Mr. Ling then resumes business as a peanut man and Barnaby lurks behind trees and collects pictures drawn for him by youthful park visitors. The story ends with the somewhat saccharine pronouncement that readers who try to think of them will be able to share in their dream.

Aside from having a confusing and ambiguous ending, the story is generally lacking in verve and excitement. The dialogue in particular is stilted and awkward. There are no exciting events to spark interest in the plot — the two protagonists merely walk out of the circus and into the park, at which point the tale ends. Readers won’t be convinced that the dream in question is a worthwhile objective. Rather, it is so dull that the action fails to lead to a satisfying denouement. It is unfortunate that the author has not successfully realized his basic idea, since it has been produced in the same attractive format as the Robert Munsch titles, with wide-margined pages of text facing full-page colour illustrations.