Dana Simpson has become most known
for her comic, “Phoebe and Her Unicorn.” However, years before Phoebe was
around, Simpson had another comic she created called “Ozy and Millie.” OZY AND MILLIE is a collection of what
Simpson considers some of her favorite “Ozy and Millie” comics.
Ozy is a boy and Millie is a girl.
They are in fifth grade, are best friends, they belong to single parents, and
they are both foxes. Ozy is the adopted son of a literary-spurting dragon named
Llewellyn while Millie’s mother has a bit of a bohemian vibe to her. Usually
Millie is the one that finds herself in some kind of shenanigans, but sometimes
Ozy does, too. The book begins with a
letter from the author and at the end there is a tutorial on drawing the
characters in the strip.
I have read several of the “Phoebe
and Her Unicorn” books and I have enjoyed them. But I have to say, I enjoy “Ozy
and Millie” more. “Ozy and Millie” was supposedly aimed at middle school
students. However, the book is far too intelligent for it being labeled like
that. In tone and in some of the discussions that pop up through-out the strip,
“Ozy and Millie” reminded me a great deal of one of my favorite comic strips of
all time, “Calvin and Hobbes.” I like that while the strip can be approached by
younger readers, it’s much deeper. It doesn’t pander.
Personally, there’s only one
complaint I have about OZY AND MILLIE and that is since this is a collection of
comics, it’s more of a hodge-podge. Reading the book, I felt like I was reading
what is equivalent to watching a clip show of a favorite tv series: there’s
some good stuff, but it’s not a real episode.
Overall, I really enjoyed OZY AND
MILLIE. I highly recommend it, especially for anyone who likes great comic strips.
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