Bink and Gollie, Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile, is a story of two best friends, Bink and Gollie. This book takes the pair through a series of adventures at the state fair.
The story begins with Bink, the small blonde of the two, wanting to play whack a duck. Bink winds up to throw the baseball at the wall of ducks to win the world’s largest donut, and hits the man working the booth in the face! Bink eagerly asks, “Did I win?”
Bink tries two more times, but continues to injure the poor man at the booth. Their next adventure has Gollie volunteering to perform in a talent show. Unfortunately, Gollie chokes up! The two walk away from the talent show wearing “I lost at whack a duck” and “I participated in the amateur talent show” ribbons, disappointed in themselves to say the least.
The final adventure takes them to a psychic, which tells them what a dark path they’ve endured recently. However, the psychic then mentions the future, which still has the two being best of friends! That’s enough to turn the day for the two of them around.
This is a great book to read with your 1st and 2nd grade children! The illustrations are fantastic. The amount of emotion that Fucile is able to convey in the faces of these characters is just amazing. Not only will your child appreciate the humor of this book, you will, too. Children won’t be able to put this book down as they start to become invested in the comical friendship of Bink and Gollie. Most kids will relate to either the silliness of Bink or the responsible qualities of Gollie, which makes the story all the more fun for them!
-Elizabeth Gunckle
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