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Sally and Dave: A Slug Story
by Felice Arena
Kane/Miller Books

reviewed by Kelly Herold

Warning: Unintentional Alliteration Ahead

Sally Slug is a stuck-up gastropod mollusk, proud of her sports skills and sleek physique.  Dave Slug is more rounded, prefers "sleeping sideways in his own slime," and is fond of sweets. Felice Arena's Sally and Dave: A Slug Story is a sweet tale featuring lots of s-alliteration and a clash of sluggish personalities.

Sally's Type-A Slug finds Dave to be woefully lacking in ambition:

"'Why don't you get off your slimy slug bottom and do something special?' Sally         
sneered one day.

'But I always thought I was special,' sighed Dave. 'And I like sitting on my slimy slug bottom.'

'I've never heard anything so silly,' snapped Sally. 'It's slobs like you that give slugs a bad name.'"

The reader sympathizes with Dave who just wants to live a happy life of relaxation, food and sun. And he proves himself in the end as slackers often do, rescuing Sally when she's gobbled up by a sparrow.

Sally and Dave: A Slug Story begs to be read aloud.  Toddlers to emergent readers will enjoy hearing the hiss of the words as they stream by.  But what really makes Sally and Dave a hit are Arena's inspired illustrations.  His cartoon-like slugs are obsessed with sports, food and the good life.  Their expressive googly eyes tell a tale of friendship all their own and are fun to follow throughout Sally and Dave's epic story.

A not-to-miss read aloud for the three- to eight-year-old set.

Rating: *\*\*\

Maybe a Bear Ate It!
by Robie H. Harris
Orchard Books

reviewed by Kelly Herold

It's refreshing to read a picture book about a cherished childhood object that is a book itself.  Think about it: Most picture books about lost beloved items concern blankies, or stuffed animals, or favorite toys. Harris's new picture book, Maybe A Bear Ate It!, turns its focus to the pleasure a most-loved book can bring a child and the corresponding pain it causes when it goes missing.

Maybe a Bear Ate It! opens with five wordless pages showing our protagonist--some sort of cute creature with badger-like facial features--reading his favorite book.  He climbs into bed, clad in striped pajamas, and studies his book carefully until becoming drowsy. Suddenly, the book disappears. Then the words and imagination begin: "Maybe a BEAR ate it!...Maybe a RHINO ran away with it!...Maybe a SHARK swallowed it!" 

Our hero becomes more and more frantic as he imagines the terrible fate that his book may have met.

Harris shows in a visceral way--the panic! the despair! the chaos!--how important books can be to a child.  Or monster. And Emberley's illustrations complement Harris's sentiment in a cheerful, child-friendly way. His creature is adorable and has the manic movement and changeable facial expressions of your average three year old. 

I also appreciate what Emberley does with the protagonist's size in Maybe a Bear Ate It! When the hero is alone in his bed reading, he is of normal size.  When imagining the horrible, scary animals who could have stolen his book, however, the hero becomes small and peripheral on the page. As a reader, you want to pick him up and promise to find that missing book for him.

Finally, I have to add that what is most compelling about Maybe A Bear Ate It! is that the hero solves the problem himself. There's no all-knowing Mama Creature or Papa Creature or Teacher Creature who shows up to save the day.  Creature pulls himself together, does the work, and finds his best-loved book himself.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Editor's note: Harris is on blog tour this week. Catch her here tomorrow!

Hug Time
by Patrick McDonnell

Little, Brown

My husband is a huge Mutts fan and wouldn't let me pan a book of McDonnell's even if he were capable of writing a bad one. Though this one leans a tad toward the pedestrian, if I can avoid getting shot at for saying so. Still, if I could say as much in so little space,  I'd bottle his talent, sell stock in it, and retire to my own island.

So Hug Time doesn't rate with my all-time favorite of his, The Gift of Nothing, but it's a fine little book about dispensing full-frontal, no-holds-barred hugs. I don't know all the Mutts characters (being a relative newcomer to the McDonnell orbit), but a little kitty named Jules sets off on a round-the-world trip wearing a favorite sweater and carrying a hug-to-do list.

In rhyming quattrains, he meets up with a variety of animals, more than a few on the endangered list, and gives 'em a big ol' squeeze:

Exploring the rain forest by foot and canoe,
Jules discovered a species brand-new.
Kneeling, he whispered, "We welcome you."
Off to India--with its tigers so few,
Finding one is hard to do.

Okay, so there are better rhymers out there, and McDonnell isn't above some blatant sentimentality, especially considering his famed fondness for animals (he's on the board of directors of The Humane Society of the United States, among other accomplishments).

There's no real plot here--no conflict or mounting drama or discernible character arc. Still, 'tis the season for such things, and you could do worse than put a hug in someone's stocking.

Rating: *\*\

The Magic Rabbit
by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Candlewick Press

Picture books have gotten so sophisticated, they now dip heavily into the same inkwell as graphic novels, with illustrations zooming off in their own narrative directions. The text often has to catch up--a clever tactic designed to keep kids scanning the art for clues.

If you're just reading this text and whizzing past the scratchy black-and-white drawings, you're missing the most dramatic parts of a simple tale of a street-corner magician and his bunny.

Ray's gray, grubby little apartment's crammed with magic props, posters and esoteric knick-knacks, where the only spots of color are bright yellow stars and popcorn. We see Ray loading his magic wand with the former, while Bunny munches on the latter. They're best friends, do everything together, and share a career entertaining park goers in this busily realized urban setting.

The written text sketches out the plot--you have to watch out for that juggler in the park, the one with the pug on his head wheeling his unicycle as Ray readies his big trick. After their big crash, that pug's chasing poor Bunny straight out of the picture frame.

Bunny eventually picks up a trail of stars and popcorn, but if you've been paying attention, you spotted the trail's beginnings much earlier, with sightings of a tiny, forlorn Ray in the background as a terrified Bunny wanders the city alone.

The New Yorker-style illustrations actually teach the rudiments of storytelling to wide-eyed kids who notice everything. Foreshadowing, suspense, cause and effect--it's all here, carefully and elegantly laid out in pen and ink.

Rating: *\*\*\

The Magic Rabbit
by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Candlewick Press

Picture books have gotten so sophisticated, they now dip heavily into the same inkwell as graphic novels, with illustrations zooming off in their own narrative directions. The text often has to catch up--a clever tactic designed to keep kids scanning the art for clues.

If you're just reading this text and whizzing past the scratchy black-and-white drawings, you're missing the most dramatic parts of a simple tale of a street-corner magician and his bunny.

Ray's gray, grubby little apartment's crammed with magic props, posters and esoteric knick-knacks, where the only spots of color are bright yellow stars and popcorn. We see Ray loading his magic wand with the former, while Bunny munches on the latter. They're best friends, do everything together, and share a career entertaining park goers in this busily realized urban setting.

The written text sketches out the plot--you have to watch out for that juggler in the park, the one with the pug on his head wheeling his unicycle as Ray readies his big trick. After their big crash, that pug's chasing poor Bunny straight out of the picture frame.

Bunny eventually picks up a trail of stars and popcorn, but if you've been paying attention, you spotted the trail's beginnings much earlier, with sightings of a tiny, forlorn Ray in the background as a terrified Bunny wanders the city alone.

The New Yorker-style illustrations actually teach the rudiments of storytelling to wide-eyed kids who notice everything. Foreshadowing, suspense, cause and effect--it's all here, carefully and elegantly laid out in pen and ink.

Rating: *\*\*\

Pssst!
by Adam Rex

Harcourt Children's Books

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

Adam Rex's Pssst! poses a straight-forward question: "What happens when a bunch of animals have been cooped up too long?" It's a question Rex's protagonist--a serious little girl with a cute short bob--must keep in mind during a visit to the zoo. The bored animals call to her from their cages, whispering "pssst."  Once summoned, the little girl is bombarded with absurd requests from the animals.  The bears want tires, the sloths bike helmets, and the penguins?  The penguins want paint, of course.  All that snow and ice? Bo-ring.

Pssst! is brilliantly structured.  Rex makes sure the little girl remains the focal point visually throughout the story.  When she strolls through the zoo, the zoo is rendered in quick line drawings, while she's fully formed. The impressionistic zoo also contrasts strongly with the little girl's conversations with the animals.  Rex illustrates each conversation in a one-page, six-panel comic style--a trick that forces the reader to slow down and focus on the conversations between the girl and the animals.  And, slowing down is worth it.  These interspecies conversations are deeply weird and very funny.  Consider, for example, this discussion between the little girl and a pair of turkeys:

Little Girl: Yeah. Yeah. What now?
Turkey 1: We Want Corn.
Little Girl: Hey...This sign says I can't feed you.
Turkey 1: We don't want to eat the corn.
Turkey 2: Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn
Turkey 1: We want to turn it into a clean-burning fuel.
Turkey 2: Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel
Little Girl: Um...Sure...
Turkey 1: Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn
Turkey 2: Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel

Little girl responds to the animals with a touching deadpan expression and does her best to meet the animals' inexplicable demands (though she does steer clear of the narwhal).

Adam Rex's Pssst! succeeds because its structure is as innovative as the text is humorous.  It's the perfect treat for readers ages 3 to 7 (and up).   If nothing else, young readers will learn to avoid conversations with bored animals at the zoo.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Pssst!
by Adam Rex

Harcourt Children's Books

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

Adam Rex's Pssst! poses a straight-forward question: "What happens when a bunch of animals have been cooped up too long?" It's a question Rex's protagonist--a serious little girl with a cute short bob--must keep in mind during a visit to the zoo. The bored animals call to her from their cages, whispering "pssst."  Once summoned, the little girl is bombarded with absurd requests from the animals.  The bears want tires, the sloths bike helmets, and the penguins?  The penguins want paint, of course.  All that snow and ice? Bo-ring.

Pssst! is brilliantly structured.  Rex makes sure the little girl remains the focal point visually throughout the story.  When she strolls through the zoo, the zoo is rendered in quick line drawings, while she's fully formed. The impressionistic zoo also contrasts strongly with the little girl's conversations with the animals.  Rex illustrates each conversation in a one-page, six-panel comic style--a trick that forces the reader to slow down and focus on the conversations between the girl and the animals.  And, slowing down is worth it.  These interspecies conversations are deeply weird and very funny.  Consider, for example, this discussion between the little girl and a pair of turkeys:

Little Girl: Yeah. Yeah. What now?
Turkey 1: We Want Corn.
Little Girl: Hey...This sign says I can't feed you.
Turkey 1: We don't want to eat the corn.
Turkey 2: Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn
Turkey 1: We want to turn it into a clean-burning fuel.
Turkey 2: Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel
Little Girl: Um...Sure...
Turkey 1: Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn
Turkey 2: Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel Fuel

Little girl responds to the animals with a touching deadpan expression and does her best to meet the animals' inexplicable demands (though she does steer clear of the narwhal).

Adam Rex's Pssst! succeeds because its structure is as innovative as the text is humorous.  It's the perfect treat for readers ages 3 to 7 (and up).   If nothing else, young readers will learn to avoid conversations with bored animals at the zoo.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

The Painted Circus: P.T. Vermin Presents a Mesmerizing Menagerie of Trickery and Illusion Guaranteed to Beguile and Bamboozle the Beholder
by Wallace Edwards

Kids Can Press

I got new glasses just in time for these 32 pages of "visual trickery and optical illusions," which set my head spinning nonetheless. 

You've seen some of these tricks before: the grimacing old face that smiles when turned upside down, or the concentric circles that seem to spin if you move the page. And no doubt you've seen old circus posters, with their pageantry and pizazz and over-the-bigtop weirdness.

But I bet you haven't seen them presented quite like this. The idea of displaying brain teasers as a visual freak show  is one of those head-slapping original ideas, and even if you aren't a wide-eyed kindergartener, it's mind-boggling and crazy-making in the best possible way. 

A mouse in a ringmaster's costume narrates, and the hyperbole soars higher than acrobatic elephants -- if you can manage to count them all.

Each page is a masterpiece of sleight of hand and artistic tomfoolery, done as its own circus poster and posing a different problem. In one, a red jelly bean must feed two hungry alligators in jester costumes. You're given a hint and if you're really stuck, answers are in the back. *Spoiler zone:* bring the jelly bean page to your nose so you see double.

There's plenty going on in the background too, creating a whirl of activity for repeated reads, and you still feel like you must be missing things. But this is no workbook -- it's a high-end picture book that -- presto -- vanishes any barrier between writer and reader for a unique experience each time.

This is one of my favorite concept books of the year, maybe of all time, capturing the excitement and wonder of a circus with the satisfaction of a good think. Plus, it's one very weird book. Did I mention that?

Update: It's been shortlisted by the Canada Council for the Arts for their 2007 Governor General's Literary Awards. Winners will be announced Nov. 27.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

The Painted Circus: P.T. Vermin Presents a Mesmerizing Menagerie of Trickery and Illusion Guaranteed to Beguile and Bamboozle the Beholder
by Wallace Edwards

Kids Can Press

I got new glasses just in time for these 32 pages of "visual trickery and optical illusions," which set my head spinning nonetheless. 

You've seen some of these tricks before: the grimacing old face that smiles when turned upside down, or the concentric circles that seem to spin if you move the page. And no doubt you've seen old circus posters, with their pageantry and pizazz and over-the-bigtop weirdness.

But I bet you haven't seen them presented quite like this. The idea of displaying brain teasers as a visual freak show  is one of those head-slapping original ideas, and even if you aren't a wide-eyed kindergartener, it's mind-boggling and crazy-making in the best possible way. 

A mouse in a ringmaster's costume narrates, and the hyperbole soars higher than acrobatic elephants -- if you can manage to count them all.

Each page is a masterpiece of sleight of hand and artistic tomfoolery, done as its own circus poster and posing a different problem. In one, a red jelly bean must feed two hungry alligators in jester costumes. You're given a hint and if you're really stuck, answers are in the back. *Spoiler zone:* bring the jelly bean page to your nose so you see double.

There's plenty going on in the background too, creating a whirl of activity for repeated reads, and you still feel like you must be missing things. But this is no workbook -- it's a high-end picture book that -- presto -- vanishes any barrier between writer and reader for a unique experience each time.

This is one of my favorite concept books of the year, maybe of all time, capturing the excitement and wonder of a circus with the satisfaction of a good think. Plus, it's one very weird book. Did I mention that?

Update: It's been shortlisted by the Canada Council for the Arts for their 2007 Governor General's Literary Awards. Winners will be announced Nov. 27.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

What Will Fat Cat Sit On? 
by Jan Thomas

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

This is a question every self-respecting Fat Cat considers seriously. Should it be the couch? Or better to choose the warm television, drooping one's tail over the screen? In Jan Thomas's What Will Fat Cat Sit On? the barnyard animals worry and watch while Fat Cat makes this momentous decision. Will Fat Cat sit on them?

You'll be glad to know that no barnyard animals--a pig, a chicken, a dog, a cow and a mouse--are squashed by Fat Cat.  But Thomas's oversized animals cluck, and moo, and growl while Cat makes his decision.  And, Thomas's illustrations are fantastic: Faces fill the page, large eyes showing anticipation, anxiety and relief. Children as young as two years old will be able to read these faces and recognize the emotions the animals express.

Speaking of audience, let me mention that What Will Fat Cat Sit On? is perfect not only for the preschool audience, but also for children just learning to read. Its cheerful and funny illustrations will lift the spirits of kids struggling to make sense of those three-letter words.  This Fat Cat is a keeper.

Rating: *\*\*\

Punk Farm on Tour
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Alfred A. Knopf, publishers

I don't care what the press release says, there is no "Wheels on the Van" on the Punk Farm website. And I'm pissed!

Okay, "Old McDonald" definitely rocks, with Sheep on vocals, Chicken on keyboard and ... oh, never mind. Hey, Random House, my kids wanna hear "Wheels", folks. Got that? Fix the site!

This is one of those sequels to a book I never read, but is worth getting even if you're a Punk Farm virgin like me. My son's already a fan, though struggling to keep loose galleys together is a pain. I'm ordering the bound version for sanity's sake.

In the first Punk Farm, a Wisconsin barnyard rocks it out while Farmer Joe sleeps. In this one, he's off to a tractor convention in Reno, so the gang -- Goat, Cow, Pig and the aforementioned Sheep and Chicken -- is taking their show cross-country.

But, hey, can they think up a cool new song? Will inspiration or their wretched van give out first?

Oooh ... suspense. I love it. And a twist on a song my kids actually know.

But you're missing half the book if you don't check out what other animals turn up where.  My favorite: the flamingo groupie. You can actually learn something about the local fauna in far-flung corners of the U.S.

Punk Farm On Tour isn't another barnyard story, not with a goatee-sporting Goat who fixes engines or a Pig who's, well, a total pig. But what makes this especially stand out is its off-kilter humor and the creator's refusal to take anything seriously. And kids get it. Nothing's aimed over their heads at parents. Sure, you know more about punk than your kids. Krosocza obviously thinks that's curable.

On a side note, this was probably a bad time to give up vegetarianism. My kids are mortified at the thought of eating such talented critters. Rock on! And pass the wings ...

Rating: *\*\*\*\

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
by Kevin Sherry

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

This is my favorite picture book of the year so far. Why? Well, it's bold, funny, bright and it teaches (indirectly) a very important message: No matter how big, or smart, or great you are, there's always someone bigger, smarter, or greater than you.

Fortunately, Sherry conveys this anti-message with humor and visual brilliance. Our hero is a squid.  On the first page, he announces, "I'm a GIANT squid and I'm BIG."  He continues to compare himself to sea life he encounters--shrimp, clams, turtles, and fish among them. 

As we all know, however, bragging can get you into trouble.  And squid finds himself in
a bit of a pickle when swallowed by the actual biggest thing in the ocean.  Ever optimistic, however, squid glances at his fellow travelers and announces, "I'm the biggest thing in this Whale!"

Sherry's squid is irrepressible and you can't help cheering for him, even at the end.  Sherry's illustrations will thrill the young reader with their rich shades of blue and variety of sea life.  I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean is best suited for children ages two to seven. Don't miss this one.

Rating: *\*\*\*\