The Day Louis Got Eaten (Andersen Press Picture Books) - Hardcover

"A cumulative tale of gathering potency that riffs on Jonah and the Whale.

The first page of this tale is a dodge: A young boy with goo-goo eyes scooters off with his sister for a day in the forest near their idyllic woodland cottage. Yawn--apparently. The pen-and-ink drawing is pretty nifty, so it doesn't hurt to move ahead anyway. And that is for the best, as goo-goo eyes gets eaten by a Gulper. His sister, taking umbrage, gives chase, but before she can reach the Gulper, it is eaten by a Grabular. So it goes, with the sister in pursuit--on evermore inventive contraptions--and each crazy creature being devoured by a yet crazier one. The sister gets the Saber-toothed Yumper in the end, forcing it to disgorge all its stomach's contents, including the goo-goo-eyed brother, who turns out to be a tough dude after all. Things could be said here about the importance of persistence and the glories of sisters, all being true, but it might be best to see this book as a clever eye-catcher with a nicely tied-up story--there's nothing at all wrong with that.

A very merry, lighthearted entanglement." --Kirkus Reviews

--Journal

"'The Day Louis Got Eaten, ' by the British cartoonist, author and illustrator John Fardell, is... admirably concise.
The story is delicious: A brother and his big sister are out in the woods, and the former gets eaten. Eaten in one gulp by a creature logically called a 'Gulper, ' which is eaten, in turn, by the aptly named and hilariously drawn Grabular, Undersnatch, Spiney-Backed Guzzler and finally by a Saber-Toothed Yumper. Sarah sets out to rescue little Louis from this parade of beasts, a feat accomplished through a bicycle ride over increasingly complicated and varied terrain, an incredibly illustrated trek through the stomachs of each animal and with the help of a small frog. Sarah finds Louis calmly ensconced in the Gulper's gullet, reading a comic book: 'I knew you'd come.' Their escape involves a wonderful visual series of hiccups and burps.
The art is cartoony, in pen and ink with bright watercolors, and the book's layout borrows from comic strips as well; the narrative is cleverly visualized in a succession of softly edged panels teeming with delightful action words, like 'raar, ' 'flick, ' 'splosh' and 'guzzle.' There's a lot to look at, and everything is important. Note that secret glimpse of each successive creature peeking into the previous page before it pounces. And Sarah's retooling, MacGyver style, of her bicycle to adapt to each environment: paddle boat, submarine, stilted walker. The final pages, despite the book's predatory subject, are surprisingly sweet; the siblings fly their bike (now a hang glider) toward a cozy cabin while the vanquished critters sulk from a safe distance. Whoever said the British can't cook? I love this book so much I want to eat it up." --The New York Times Book Review
--Newspaper

"'Louis and his big sister Sarah were out in the woods one day... when unfortunately... Louis was eaten up by Gulper.' Far from afraid, Sarah springs into action, chasing after the furry, egg-shaped monster on her bicycle. But just as she's about to catch the Gulper, it's eaten by a black, winged Grabular, which is in turn gobbled up by an Undersnatch, a giant tadpole-like creature. The hilariously preposterous chase unfolds quickly in Fardell's panel illustrations, and Sarah shows bravery, ingenuity, and determination every step of the way she reconfigures her bike again and again, outfitting it with a paddlewheel to traverse the sea and spidery legs to climb some Seussian rock formations. Thus, it's especially disappointing that Fardell (Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High) relies on an amphibia ex machina resolution, which takes the form of a 'Hiccup Frog' that causes the creatures gastrointestinal distress. Fardell gives Louis a moment to shine, too, and it's clear he's as nonchalantly brave as his sister--when she crawls through multiple stomachs to rescue him, he's hanging out reading comic books." --Publisher's Weekly

--Journal

"Louis and his sister find themselves deep inside the stomach of a Saber-toothed Yumper when a leisurely bike ride through the woods turns into a monstrous chase into prehistoric lands. After Louis is swallowed by a Gulper, Sarah sets off to rescue him, but each creature that consumes him is set upon by a larger one, and the chase is on. Finally, she must crawl into the stomach of the Saber-toothed Yumper and, flashlight in hand, wind her way through the insides of all the other beasts to retrieve her brother. Although the situation resolves itself when the creature feels a real 'frog in its throat, ' the siblings are not free to return home until one of them finds a more vocal way to scare away the still-hungry Guzzler, Grabular, Undersnatch, and Gulper. Fardell cleverly morphs verbs into the names of the monsters chasing Louis and a two-wheeled bicycle into a machine capable of floating, rock climbing, and flight. The antics are over-the-top, and the creatures are more funny than scary, making this picture book a natural for storytime fun." --School Library Journal

--Journal

When Sarah's brother, Louis, is eaten by a Gulper, Sarah does not panic but follows the trail as the Gulper is eaten by a series of other creatures until finally she has her chance to rescue Louis from them all.