A LITTLE BIT OF TROUBLE

Grandpa Bear mumbles his way through the long-awaited picnic in this follow-up to No Trouble at All (2002). He packs a plentiful lunch (much of which gets eaten along the way, unbeknownst to him) and leads his two mischievous grand-cubs to a likely spot beside a nearby stream. The contrast between his running commentary and actual events as shown in Taylor’s somewhat cartoon-y illustrations provides mild humor, particularly when the “nasty old bull” is revealed to be a friendly family man, happy to be reunited with his playful calves and their cheerful cow-mom. The story sacrifices some child appeal with the single, self-absorbed narrative voice (Grandpa does direct some comments to the cubs, but they never respond) and the one-note joke of Grandpa’s obliviousness eventually grows old. But the busy double-paged spreads offer plenty to pore over while presenting a pleasant, pastoral world, making it likely that many readers will be willing to overlook the slight storyline and somewhat stilted text and just enjoy another outing with Grandpa and the cubs. (Picture book. 3-6)