WHACK A MOLEY

The goat and the mole from Holey Moley (2023) return for another squabbly book-length conversation.

Goat Gus wants to play a game, and mole Mavis is all in—and proposes tiddlywinks. Gus has other ideas: “Let’s play WHACK A MOLEY!” Gus pulls out a giant pink mallet from seemingly nowhere. “Let’s…not,” says Mavis. So Gus suggests something called “QUACK A MOLEY,” which finds an aggrieved Mavis in a pond in a duck costume with a hook at the top that Gus looks ready to snare with a long pole. On it goes, with Gus proposing games that entail Mavis getting eaten (“SNACK A MOLEY”) or weighed down by wooden boards. Mavis retaliates with suggestions that Gus, in turn, finds off-putting—e.g., “Does Goat-y FLOAT-Y?” during which Gus seems on the verge of drowning (“Glub…”). As in the earlier story, the forced rhymes are the point and will hit some readers squarely in their giggle zone. But whereas Holey Moley found Gus and Mavis engaged in a rousing guessing game, this tale is rather cruel, the idea of inflicting discomfort played for laughs. (Think Tom and Jerry, not Elephant and Piggie.) Frang’s art is once again in its full loveliness, depicting the goings-on in an airy woodland setting featuring interesting plant life and, apparently, an off-page prop closet.

A rather mean-spirited follow-up to a satisfying outing.