The Society of Distinguished Lemmings

Bertie the lemming is chafing under the rules of his highly formal, regimented community (Rule #2: “Always act in a distinguished manner.” Rule #10: “No questioning the rules”). Emerging from his underground maze of a home —wittily evoked by debuting Colombet’s digitally colored pencil drawings—Bertie meets up with a huge, friendly bear (rendered in intricate, velvety textures of cocoa) who opens him up to new and less rule-bound ways of being in the world. But in the eyes of the Society, at least, the bear is at best hopeless and at worst a miscreant: his table manners are lacking, and he likes to jump in mud puddles. “You are distinguished, just in a different way,” Bertie tries to assure Bear after an introduction to the Society goes south. It takes a looming catastrophe and a clever rescue by Bear to convince the lemmings that maybe they can loosen up—a bit. Colombet packs her story with vivid personalities (the earnest, wide-eyed lemmings are a collective hoot), visual jokes, and, as befits a large, opinionated community, many, many dialogue balloons. There is much to linger over and return to in these pages. Ages 6–10. [em](Mar.) [/em]