The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

A little knight on the left-hand side of the brick wall running down the exact center of this book explains that his side of the wall is completely safe as he scales a ladder to repair a broken brick near the top. The other side, he notes, is filled with danger. And indeed, a rhino, a tiger, and a gorilla are on the other side of the wall. But they don’t look particularly scary. In fact, they are all frightened by a mouse. Even the ogre who enters the scene from stage right appears to be friendly (and turns out to be altruistic). Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the knight, there are all sorts of dangers creeping up behind him on his side of the wall: a crocodile, predatory fish, and quickly rising water. But he’s too obsessed with the perceived danger on the other side to notice. A clever design and funny storyline combine to serve as a parable about fear of the unknown. (Ages 3–7)

CCBC Choices 2019 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2019. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2019
A wall (i.e., the book's gutter) separates a knight from an ogre and his jungle-animal companions. Readers' ability to see both sides of the wall simultaneously provides the humor as floodwaters (filled with voracious sea creatures) rise on the oblivious hero, who's eventually rescued by the ogre. Lightly toned watercolor illustrations with plenty of white space keep things upbeat, emphasizing the dramatic and comic possibilities of a pair of eyes.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Horn Book

November 1, 2018
Unlike Richard Byrne's This Book Just Ate My Dog! (rev. 1/15), wherein the book's gutter did service as a chasm to be negotiated by the characters, here it is a wall separating an idyllic?ha!?existence for a young knight from an ogre and his jungle companions. They don't look so bad, which proves to be a good thing for the knight when his side of the wall begins to flood and the ogre reaches over and rescues him. It's a solid wall, thank goodness, if a slim premise; the humor comes from our ability to see both sides of the wall at once, as well as the floodwaters (filled with voracious sea creatures) rising on our oblivious hero. Lightly toned watercolor illustrations with plenty of white space keep things upbeat, emphasizing the dramatic and comic possibilities to be found in a pair of eyes. The book is too funny to fall into allegory: that wall never does come down, but our little protagonist is in for a wonderful new life. roger Sutton

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

September 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 3-There's a wall in the middle of this book. And it's a good thing, because it protects one side of the book from the other side. Or, at least that's what the hero of the book, a young knight, thinks. As the knight warns readers about all of the dangers on the other side of the wall-like tigers and mean ogres-he remains oblivious to the rising water and crocodile who are sneaking up behind him on his side of the wall. Before the water engulfs him completely, the knight is rescued by a surprising savior, and he soon learns that things may not be so bad on the other side of the wall after all. The knight's journey reminds readers that instead of building walls, we should be tearing them down in order to understand who or what is on the other side. Agee's simple illustrations combined with his trademark humor and ability to let readers in on a secret that the protagonist knows nothing about, combine to solidify him as a hilarious picture book master. VERDICT A silly read-aloud with an important message. A solid choice for storytime and one-on-one sharing.-Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

Starred review from September 1, 2018
Preschool-G *Starred Review* A tall brick wall runs through the gutter of this book. On the left, a narrating knight mounts a ladder to replace a brick. He's convinced the wall is a good thing because it protects his safe side from dangers on the other. Wild animals and a large man (the knight insists he is an ogre) live on the right side of the wall. If the ogre ever caught me, he'd eat me up, states the knight with certitude. What goes unmentioned is the water rising underneath the knight and a lot of predator-prey carnage beneath him. Eventually the knight falls into the water and is rescued by the ogre (who is actually a nice guy), and everyone ends up happily on a final spread that pays homage to Maurice Sendak's wild rumpus. Agee's signature cartoon artwork employs simple shapes, white backgrounds, and muted colors, appropriate to the deadpan delivery of the story. The ogre and animals may look fearsome, but everyone is well-behaved and pleasant. By contrast, bigger creatures keep eating smaller ones (much like in Jon Klassen's Hat trilogy) in the knight's kingdom on the left side of the book. Will the intended audience recognize the xenophobia depicted here? Probably not. But the message that walls don't help us understand our neighbors will stick.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

From Kirkus

Starred review from August 15, 2018
A wall separates the two sides of a book. But what happens when there is danger on the side that's supposed to be "safe?"When a brick falls from the wall, a cheerful, ladder-carrying knight arrives to repair it from the verso side. On the other, recto side of the wall, a small team of angry-looking animals--a rhino, a tiger, and a gorilla--arrives to investigate. The brick wall straddles the book's gutter from the ground at the very bottom of the spread and breaks the frame skyward, blocking those on each side from viewing the other. Using first-person narration, the knight tells readers that their side of the book is "safe" and that the other side is not. But, when the illustrations slowly reveal what lurks on the knight's side, the knight's theory doesn't quite hold water. Or does it? Agee's expert interplay between words and pictures invites readers to question the narrator's reliability. Every illustration is a double-page spread (even the unfolded book jacket), and Agee's signature washed-out color palette and expressive cartoon character designs shine. Animal and human characters alike break the fourth wall to communicate with readers through facial expressions, brilliantly accentuating the contradictory word-picture dynamic. The knight presents white.With too much attention toward outward threats, the knight neglects to see those from within--a timeless message but also one that, in 2018, will surely strike a chord with many readers. (Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from July 30, 2018
In this sly fable by Agee (Life on Mars), a tall brick wall runs along the book's gutter, and the action takes place on either side. On the verso, a short, perky knight approaches the wall with a ladder. On the recto, a menacing-looking tiger and rhino lurk. "The wall protects this side of the book" the knight explains, "from the other side of the book." The contrast between the knight's cheery, confiding tone and the outsize dangers supply hilarity, and blocky images in faded hues soften potentially scary moments. As the animals flee, the knight's side of the wall starts to fill up with water. "The most dangerous thing on the other side of the book is the ogre," the knight says from his ladder, oblivious to the deepening flood, finger raised in emphasis. Enter the ogre-uh oh. As ever, Agee nails pacing and punch lines, making inventive use of the famous fourth wall as a literary device (and giving the book a new wall altogether). Most satisfying is his gentle reminder that preconceived notions about things and people, over a boundary or otherwise, are often distinctly wrong. Ages 4—8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

From AudioFile Magazine

Narrators Everest de Montebello and Marc Thompson provide a young knight with a youthful voice and a large ogre with a deep and gravelly voice in this examination of children's perception. At the beginning of the audiobook, the characters confidently inhabit their own sides of a brick wall. As the story unfolds, things are not exactly what the knight thinks they should be. Listeners will chuckle as de Montebello voices the knight's disgust with the ogre and share in his amazement as his side of the wall changes dramatically. Then they'll relish Thompson's gusto as the ogre shares his side. Sound effects provide background AND fade-away giggles. This is an audiobook that works wells as a read-along with pictures that tell all! A.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine