This follow-up to Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers (1993) offers more of the same random, rollicking doggerel``Horses don't hang glide/Giraffes don't drive cars/And you won't see a piglet saving pennies in jars,'' etc.matched to busy, literal cartoons filled with animals clothed and posed accordingly. As in If You Give A Moose A Muffin (1991), Numeroff stretches a winning idea, perhaps further than it will go. The first book will create demand for the second, but there are empty calories in this sequel. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-689-80150-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
Gliori (Mr. Bear Babysits, etc.) offers a version of the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, when Mr. and Mrs. Bear get help from a community of loving friends in soothing their fretful newborn. When the serenity of the nighttime forest is shattered by the incessant wailing of Mr. Bear’s newest child, the woodland animals offer the bleary parents suggestions on how they put their own offspring to sleep. With ingenious and amusing results, Gliori devises forest-appropriate baby furniture, from Mr. Bun’s lettuce and carrot cradle to Mrs. Buzz’s honey-filled hive. Alas, none of these remedies works and soon the friends drift back to their own homes. Only Small Bear can enlighten her parents as to what the baby needs—a warm snuggle in bed with the family. The endearing illustrations are brimming with humorous details. The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Bear looks as if a small whirlwind hit it—it is strewn with tiny clothes, small toys, the ubiquitous pile of baby care manuals, ointment, and more—deftly conveying the way one very small and helpless creature can reorient a family’s entire universe. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30152-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Wormell (An Alphabet of Animals, 1990, etc.) proves that occasionally, the grass is greener elsewhere, at least for three friends who switch homes, and a fourth, who leaves town. Blue Rabbit is discontented with his cave in a forest (which, to children, will be recognizable as a dark area behind some blocks and toys); in his search for better digs, he encounters Bear, sitting in what appears to be an upside-down, water-filled Frisbee. Bear is also unhappy in his habitat; so is Goose, living in a doghouse that smells of old bones, and Dog, whose home seems to be a daisy-covered bedspread. Blue Rabbit successfully relocates his new friends, but finds that he needs the open road and adventure. Those who need a comforting predictability in their stories will be satisfied, but so, too, will be those seeking surprise. The author’s bold linoleum block prints complement the several planes of the plot, all of which are amply appealing. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8037-2499-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
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