SIX SHEEP SIP THICK SHAKES

Readers who take this on should prepare their tongues for a wicked tangling…and their stomach muscles for a workout. A quick look at some of Cleary’s sentences can be deceiving—seemingly simple syllables are truly tongue twisting when read aloud: “The water in Flo’s Inn flows in frozen.” Others, however, look tricky right from the start: “Few knew that Mr. Froo flew in the fleshy, freshly fried fish from Florida.” From the silly and ridiculous to the everyday, this tongue-twister collection covers a wide variety of topics. Ever the educator, the author’s backmatter includes some great tips for creating tongue twisters, breaking down for readers just what makes them so difficult to say. Mack’s brightly colored madcap cartoon illustrations match the tongue-in-cheek humor of the text. “The ghostly moans were mostly groans” pictures a child ghost wildly protesting having to rake the leaves while his unimpressed father stands by, arms crossed. And it’s tough to beat the silliness of slightly cross-eyed and buck-toothed men in sandals and togas playing basketball: “See the Greek geeks as they shoot three free throws.” Not for the faint of heart; tongues should really be limbered up before tackling these. (Picture book. 5-10)