THIRSTY THURSDAY
From the Bonnie Bumble series
by Phyllis Root & illustrated by Helen Craig
It’s Thursday on Bonnie Bumble’s farm, and everyone is thirsty—especially the flowers. The snapdragons snap, the tiger lilies growl, the Johnny-jump-ups jump up and down and the black-eyed Susans are spoiling for a fight. Not a drop of rain is in sight, but luckily Bonnie has an idea. She puts the sheep on top of the cow and the pig on top of the sheep, and she climbs on top of the pig (à la the Bremen Town Musicians) and tickles the cloud with a feather. The little cloud giggles, wriggles and jiggles, and down comes the rain. Now everyone is happy—except the big clouds want to be tickled, too! Short, sweet and unabashedly darling, Root’s text employs just the right amount of repetition to get toddlers chiming in by the second reading. Craig’s ink, watercolor and pencil illustrations lend Bonnie, animals and flowers expressive personalities, and the paper-over-boards binding will hold up to the inevitable repeated readings. As perky as a freshly watered daisy. (Picture book. 3-5)