School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Readers new to graphic novels will be richly rewarded with this series opener about a delightfully quirky duo. Earnest and down-to-earth Jelly the jellyfish is the perfect foil for endearingly airheaded Narwhal. Divided into three tales, the book is light on plot but brimming with a fantastically kid-friendly sense of the absurd, from the friends' first reaction upon meeting each other ("You don't look like any fish I've ever seen, but you do look kind of jelly-ish." "Look...things like you don't exist. I mean what is up with that horn?") to the tale that Narwhal and Jelly spin in their metafictional turn, which has a waffle, a strawberry, and a sea monkey doing battle with a giant robot. The art has a childlike quality, and though Narwhal and Jelly are rendered with simple, thick-lined scrawls, the illustrations are expressive and energetic. Clanton includes just a few panels per page and breaks up some of the action with full-page spreads, resulting in a wonderfully accessible option for kids making their first forays into sequential art. A song ("I am a narwhal/a happy little narwhal!") and a brief section with facts on jellyfish and narwhals are fun additions (kids will be impressed to learn that the narwhal's tooth can be up to ten feet long and that the marine mammal can live 90 years). VERDICT An utterly enchanting start to a series that's bound to be popular among young readers. Readers moving on from Mo Willems's "Elephant and Piggie" books and Bob Shea's "Ballet Cat" series will adore this undersea odd couple.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Clanton (Something Extraordinary) introduces an imaginative and self-confident narwhal in a bubbly trio of comics. In the first story, Narwhal befriends Jelly, a jellyfish, even though Jelly has never met a narwhal and Narwhal has never met a jellyfish. "What is up with that horn?" asks a frowning Jelly. "It's actually more of a tusk-tooth," Narwhal replies good-naturedly. Clanton outlines his heroes in rough pencil and colors them digitally-Narwhal resembles a floating comma, Jelly a semicircle with dangly tentacles-creating a loose, off-the-cuff aquatic environment. The cast grows in the second tale as Narwhal amasses an eclectic pod of sea creatures who grin broadly as they get their honorary narwhal horns (sorry, tusk-teeth). Bantering dialogue entertains throughout, but the book's best moment might belong to the third story, when Narwhal lends Jelly his "favorite book in the whole wide water," which is blank (Clanton gives the joke maximum impact by including two blank pages). "It's an imagination book, Jelly!" Narwhal explains. Readers ready for underwater goofiness of the non-SpongeBob variety will be eager for more adventures from this duo. Ages 6-9. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.