Invites universal participatory tickling—it’s hard to resist joining in.
A mouse wants to join the Tickle Squad but first must prove that its skills are up to snuff.
As two lab-coated rodents carefully look on (this is serious, scientific observation, after all), one tiny mouse tickles all kinds of creatures hoping to trigger a guffaw. Tickling a giraffe is easy; just run up and down those long legs. Tickling a bear requires a bit more caution, but it’s fun when they start to wriggle and giggle. Tickling an octopus, however, can be quite tricky, as the tickler-in-training wonders: “An octopus loves to be tickled for sure, / but which was the arm that I tickled before?” Written in jumpy verse with rhymes that sometimes carry over into the speech-bubble comments of the scientists, the rhythm itself is ticklish and fun. Comically large, round ears make the tiny mice easy to spot, and various bodily functions triggered by the tickling are sure to elicit giggles. Alas, some of the animals’ laughing expressions can be difficult to interpret: scrunched eyes and wide mouths with sharp teeth don’t always look very jolly.
Invites universal participatory tickling—it’s hard to resist joining in. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-8126-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Lackluster.
A vain, toothy alligator learns a lesson.
Alan is an alligator who thinks very well of himself. Every morning he shines his scales, sharpens his claws, and, most importantly, brushes his impressively “big, scary teeth” (each act of preening is shown sequentially). After his primping rituals, Alan scares the small jungle creatures by snapping his teeth and making various scary noises. Jarvis effectively communicates the jungle setting through a textured, layered green background. The big reveal comes at the end of Alan’s fright-filled day, when readers learn his lovely chompers are false. Though this discovery—given that Alan’s love of his beautiful, dangerous teeth is so evident—may elicit some laughs, the rest of the story falls flat. What remains is predictable: Alan’s teeth are stolen, he’s laughed to scorn by the creatures who previously feared him, and eventually has his teeth restored to him when he promises a sea change. His lisping, toothless speech is, sadly, played for laughs. A strength of the illustrations lies in the ability to convey emotion (notably Alan’s sad silhouettes after losing his teeth). However, the humor is both lacking and reliant on stereotype, and the story’s predictability makes it an also-ran.
Lackluster. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8120-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Crisp and tart by turns, this is one book worth fighting over.
Prepare to savor this title’s original yet familiar feel.
This rhythmic read features a slew of greedy animals, all with their eyes on a prize. A single red apple hangs at the “tip-tippy top” of a tree, poised to fall at any moment. Its precarious position isn’t missed by the hungry animals below, each determined to make the fruit their own. One by one, a different animal expresses their covetous desires in rhyme (“Mmm-mmm, how divine. / When it tumbles to the ground, / it’ll be all mine”). This is followed immediately by different descriptions of how each animal hides. Mouse “zippety-eeked” beneath a leaf to wait, while Hare “hoppety-boinged,” and fox “waggety-dashed.” Such delicious descriptions make this an ideal read-aloud for large groups, while Rohmann’s art plays up the crew’s wild apple-eating fantasies with a colorful combination of stained paper and relief printmaking. For all this, it’s quite satisfying when the fallen fruit finally ends up in the paws of an opossum, willing to share with a worthy worm. This one has all the trappings of a storytime classic—don’t be surprised when young readers eschew its central message and declare this book itself to be unshareable and definitely “mine!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Crisp and tart by turns, this is one book worth fighting over. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780593181669
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Random
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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