Anton and the Battle

In this European import, a happy-looking boy in a plumed red Cavalier hat strides confidently across the first page: "Here comes Anton." Turn the page, and Anton's carefree expression darkens: "And here comes Luke." Luke, sporting a Viking helmet with horns, laughs when Anton declares he's stronger, and a battle of one-upmanship begins. Anton (from Anton Can Do Magic, rev. 1/12) says he can lift a stone "this big," so Luke hoists a boulder over his head. Anton counters by carrying three heavy logs; Luke hefts "a whole piano" on his back and plays it -- loudly. Anton pounds on a big bass drum: "Louder! Louder! Louder!" Things escalate from noisy instruments to (cartoonish) exploding bombs, and if it's not obvious right away, readers will soon figure out that these displays of strength and derring-do are imaginary: there's no actual violence, just a lot of posturing talk. Könnecke's clean minimalist illustrations clearly outline Anton's accoutrements in blue and Luke's in red. By the time they're slaying a four-headed dragon (cunningly drawn in both red and blue), these frenemies look as if they're having a grand time. Even united against a common nonimaginary threat -- a puppy (friendly but unknown) -- they can't help playing the game. Könnecke has a keen sense of how children play and of the fluid boundary between what's real and what's pretend. For this book's two winsome combatants, the battle isn't over -- and that's just fine with them. kitty flynn