Do SOMETHING! Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Bird woke up one morning on the wrong side of the nest.

He was too grouchy to eat or to fly.

"LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE WALKING TODAY!" HE SAID.

Sheep bleated at him blithely, as Bird stomped by, asking what he is doing.

"WALKING!"

Sheep was good at following, so he joined Bird just as Rabbit hopped into view and asked what Bird is doing.

"WALKING. IT'S NO FUN." Bird snapped.

Raccoon poked his nose out and asked the same question.

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?" SAID BIRD.

The two joined the procession right behind Sheep.

Beaver asked what Bird was doing.

"HINT: YOU PLACE ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE THE OTHER ONE," GROUCHED BIRD.

Fox slips out of the forest to ask what is going on with this parade.

"I'M WALKING, OKAY?" BIRD SNAPS!

Fox falls in line behind the others.

Bird plodded on doggedly, muttering to himself.

"WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING?"

Bird decided to demonstrate to his followers just how silly they looked, trailing along behind him.

He tried hopping on one leg. He jumped straight up. They all repeated his actions.

Wait! It's like a game of Monkey see, monkey do!" They'll do anything he does.

"THIS IS FUN!" Bird suddenly decided.

It's hard to stay grumpy when you have a line of silly animals behind you, imitating your every move, in Jeremy Tankard's Grumpy Bird (Scholastic Books), as Bird suddenly sees himself in his motley imitators, and he is no longer in a bad mood. He is in a great mood! "Jeremy Tankard's deceptively simple tale is a useful tonic for moody kids -- and their parents -- but the best thing about it is the comic perfection of Bird's face as he marches along in a fury," says The Wall Street Journal. For a double dose of mood enhancer, share this one with Suzanne and Max Lang's best-selling and equally funny, Grumpy Monkey. (See my review here)

Put Your Foot Down! Ollie The Stomper by Oliver Dunrea

Ollie is a little brown gosling.

Gertie and Gossie are little yellow goslings.

GOSSIE WEARS BRIGHT RED BOOTS.

GERTIE WEARS BRIGHT BLUE BOOTS.

In their big boots, Gossie and Gertie are impressive, clomping through the straw, romping among the raindrops, and stomping in the rain puddles.

Ollie has no boots for clomping or romping or stomping.

Gertie and Gossie show off their boots shamelessly. They stomp-splash in the rain puddles and hide out among the pumpkins, poking their brightly booted feet out just to tease their bootless little buddy.

Jumping up on an overturned basket, Ollie makes an announcement.

"I WANT BOOTS!" OLLIE SHOUTS.

His announcement gets Gertie's and Gossie's attention, for sure!

There's only one way to be fair. Gertie gives Ollie a boot and Gossie gives Ollie a boot. Now Ollie has a red boot and a blue boot on his each of his two feet. Happy, he hops to the barn and then stomps to the piggery, where he stops and gives his new footwear a long, hard look.

Ollie makes a proclamation.

"BOOTS ARE TOO HOT!"

There's one sure cure for hot geese feet. It's time for a swim in the pond, au naturel, for the three little goslings, in Oliver Dunrea's Ollie the Stomper (Gossie & Friends) (Houghton Mifflin Books), one of the author's many adorable gosling barnyard stories which offers a happy solution to toddler jealousies. For newbies to the barnyard bunch, share this one with Dunrea's earlier Ollie (Gossie & Friends) and Gossie and Gertie (Gossie and Friends).. For more of Dunrea's endearing books of the poultry pairs, see reviews here.

Splish Splash! She Was Taking a Bath: Eliose Takes a Bawth! by Hilary Knight

"Eloise!" says Nannie. "Please don't dawdle. I want you in and out of the tub on the dub, dub, double. Mr. Salamone is coming to tea."

Nannie is full of spit and polish.

Eloise pleads that she must finish washing her turtle, but Nannie pish poshes, and tut tuts at Eloise's excuses, explaining that Mr. Salamone is on a tight schedule preparing the grand ballroom for a fabulous charity masked ball that night, and orders her to reappear posthaste, dressed impeccably, spit spot, at tea time.

But the imaginative six-year-old Eloise has a different idea of what must be involved in her bawth. She locks the door, turns on all the faucets, and proceeds to fill the bathroom to the depth of the New York Aquarium's deep sea tank. Eloise has a mah-velous time, pretending to be a mermaid, a pirate captain, a surfer, a skin diver, and a water skier, all to the delight of her dog and turtle. The water rises higher and higher, but also begins to precipitate and drip from the ceiling fixtures into the room below, where a prominent socialite and her pampered poodle are just checking in. Her luggage is floating and her doggy is dripping, while above Eloise is happily splawshing.

And even worse, Eloise's excess bawth waters are beginning to flood the Grande Ballroom below where Mr. Salamone is putting the final touches on the delicacies on the buffet and the elaborate Venetian decorations for the Masked Ball. Knowing Eloise's history, as he does, Mr. Salamone has an idea who is responsible for this Diluvian Disaster.

It took a bit of literary deep diving to bring up this unpublished Eloise adventure floating around in author Kay Thompson's and illustrator Hillar7 Knight's unpublished manuscripts, but at last Eloise is back to make waves and rule the Plaza, in Eloise Takes a Bawth (Simon and Schuster). Filled with the fabulous and detailed period drawings of Hilary Knight, Eloise surfaces again at the old Plaza Hotel, both in all their glory, to delight another generation of her fans.

As Booklist sums up the flood, "Thompson's involved rhymed text is enhanced by Knight's inventive artwork, which views the wreckage from every vantage point. Kids will adore seeing Eloise in her room and the wreckage down below, and they'll love the foldout revealing the plumbing of the Plaza. The final spread, showing the Venetian Ball, now authentic because water is flowing everywhere, is an elaborate delight, quite worthy of Eloise."

Metro Yarn: Claude in the City by Alex T. Hill

Claude is a small, plump pooch who affects a red beret and matching sweater, and whose best friend is a shabby, red-and-white striped sock, Sir Bobblysock, who reeks slightly of cheese.

Claude's owners, Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes, leave for work early in the morning, leaving Claude pretty much to his own devices.

One morning Claude put on his beret.

"I think I will go to the city." he said.

Sir Bobblysock came, too.

The city is busy and a bit too noisy. But after befriending the pigeons, Claude looks at all the stores. And then he sees the one for him!

BETTY'S BERET BOUTIQUE!

Claude buys a bunch of berets in boxes, and the two head for the museum where they are happily admiring the exhibits when something astounding happens!

A naughty thief ran past them, carrying one of the sculptures.

She collides with Claude and his boxes with a CRASH!

Berets exploded!

The sculpture thief is apprehended, thanks to Claude, and he is declared a hero by the Mayor, who invites Claude and Sir Bobblysock to a fancy luncheon.

But Sir Bobblysock falls ill immediately after lunch, and Claude has to race him to the nearest hospital, where Dr. Ivan Achenbaum declares that Bobblysock needs an X-ray. Left to wait, Claude is bored and begins to snoop. Finding a long lab coat in the closet, Claude tries it on, just as a nervous nurse bursts in looking for a doctor to treat a crew of ailing acrobats. Protesting, Claude is dragged into an examination room just in time to diagnose the troop's malaise as a case of the "elevenses," requiring, as Winnie the Pooh would say, tea and "a little smackerel of something." Meanwhile, Sir Bobblesock is diagnosed as being down at the heel, requiring a bit of tricky darning by the head surgeon and earning an "I Was Darn Good in the Hospital" sticker.

In storytelling style that recalls H. A. Rey's Curious George, it's a wicked funny but happy outing in the big city in Alex T. Hill's Claude in the City (Peachtree Books). In Hill's series, Claude is a quirky, picaresque character portrayed in quaint British style by artist Hill in a wry, retro-style of illustration, keeping kids wondering what can possibly happen next. Other books by author-illustrator Hill include Claude in the Country and his latest Claude At the Beach.

It's a No-Go! Edward Almost Sleeps Over by Rosemary Wells

It was a snowy day when Edwards' mother answered the ring of the telephone. It is Anthony's mother, inviting Edward over to build a snowbear in the backyard.

"WON'T IT BE FUN TO PLAY IN THE SNOW AT ANTHONY'S HOUSE!" SAYS EDWARD'S FATHER.

As he is bundled in his snowsuit and buckled into the car for the trip, Edward is not so sure. He makes his parents promise to come back for him
soon. They promise.

Anthony is waiting with a cookie for Edward, and they do have a good time in the snow. But soon new snow begins to fall hard.

SOON IT WAS SNOWING SO HARD THEY COULD NOT SEE.

Inside Anthony's house, Edward has just begun to drink his cocoa when the phone rings. It's his parents. His mother says the roads are too snowy for driving.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEND THE NIGHT AT ANTHONY'S HOUSE," SAID EDWARD'S MOTHER.

But Edward does not feel brave. He feels sad. He's not hungry for supper and he's not sleepy at bedtime, not even when he gets to wear Anthony's new pajamas.

Suddenly Anthony's mother puts on her parka and goes out to shovel a path to the car. Anthony's dad crawls under the car to put the chains on the tires.

"I WASN'T QUITE READY FOR OVERNIGHTS UNTIL I WAS 21!" HE CONFESSED.

And they drove right behind the snowplow all the way to Edward's house.

Edward wasn't quite ready for that first overnight, in Rosemary Wells' sweet snow story in her Edward Almost Ready series, Edward Almost Sleeps Over (Edward Almost Ready Book 1) (Open Road Media). Celebrated author-illustrator Rosemary Wells is the master of sensitive stories about preschoolers, letting her charming illustrations of toddler animal characters reveal the feelings involved in those encounters with new experiences, especially for the almost-ready among her fans, as well as the all-too-ready fearless and indomitable Max in her sweet and funny Max and Ruby series, as in Max's Chocolate Chicken (Max and Ruby) and Max's Christmas (Max and Ruby).

Wide World of Water: Oceans by Precious McKenzie

Ninety-seven percent of Earth is covered by water.

Although humans are dry-land dwellers, given the surface of our planet, earth science should logically begin with ocean science.

And in Precious McKenzie's Oceans (Eye To Eye With Endangered Habitats) (Rourke Publishing/Brittanica), young students begin with that knowledge. The author also offers maps that show the placement of land masses in that watery world which historically were given the names of the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, Arctic, Indian, and the newer designation, the "Southern Ocean," once called the Antarctic.

In the second chapter, The Water We Share, the author points out that name designations are purely for "human convenience."
All bodies of water are connected, flowing from rainfall to rivulets to lakes and rivers, and to seas to oceans, with no boundaries, and in the following chapter, Always on the Move, McKenzie describes how all the oceans are also involved in the free-flowing water cycle--from ocean evaporation to clouds to rainfall and runoff, and back to its flow to the seas, and that cycle of moves in tides. McKenzie then follow with a section on Currents, local or global, as in the case of the Gulf Stream which flows like a river within the ocean from the Gulf of Mexico up the eastern coast of the North America and then veering eastward to warm and bring warmth and rainfall to the west coast of Europe, affecting the biology of plants, animals, and humans there.

In the chapter titled Under the Waters, the author describes the topography of the ocean floor--oceanic shallows, mountains, deeps, and trenches and the means used by ocean scientists to explore them, such as submersibles, sonar, and mapping technology.

The final chapter touches on the types of animal life--from fish to humans--which live in shallows, deeps, on coral reefs, and on the coasts, and the way humans use oceans as sources of minerals and for fun--swimming, surfing, sailing, snorkeling, skin diving, and recreational fishing--and food--commercial fishing and fish farming and plant cultivation. Filled with clear color photos, diagrams, and maps, and with short, snappy chapters, this non-fiction book is perfect as an introduction to ocean science in the middle elementary grades. A glossary, index, and a useful website are appended for young students. Others in this Eye-to-Eye with Endangered Habitats series include Glaciers (Eye To Eye With Endangered Habitats) Rainforests (Eye To Eye With Endangered Habitats), and Savannahs (Eye To Eye With Endangered Habitats).

Lexicon on the Lam! The Great Dictionary Caper by Judy Sierra

THIS STORY IS BROUGHT TO YOU

BY NOAH WEBSTER AND HIS DICTIONARY

Talk about being IN ORDER! What is more orderly than a dictionary?

It's absolutely, awesomely alphabetical.

But although the dictionary arranges words alphabetically, words themselves are not, strictly speaking, orderly at all. They are definitely disorderly.

Remaining in place, words get restless. And restive. And rebellious.

They sit in the dictionary. Day in. Day out. It's time for a break.

Words march to a different drummer. And the onomatopoeia words can be cacophonous.

BEEP! BANG!

Action words can't stay put.

RICOCHET! SOMERSAULT!

Anagrams keep switching their letters' places.

And watch out for palindromes. They don't know which way they want to GO!

Rhyming words are persnickety employees; they only work when they can hang out with each other.

And those synonyms are major snobs! They often hang out together in their own exclusive place--an exclusive secret society called The Thesaurus.

And those interjections! They tend to be RUDE!

Author Judy Sierra is fond of rhyming text and a wizardess of wordplay, especially in her salute to these and other properties of the language in her The Great Dictionary Caper (Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books), in which the lexicon rebels in linguistic fashion. Sierra lets the lingo loose,but conscientiously corrals its characters in an appended glossary, itself a form of dictionary. Artist Eric Comstock's little pen-and-ink illustrations lets the letters run free, and kids will find plenty of winsome wordplay contained within these covers.

"Teachers will have field day with this wordplay; this caper is clever, capricious, and cunning," says Kirkus Reviews" starred review.

Night-Frights! Pippa's Night Parade by Lisa Robinson

Pippa loves listening to wild, imaginative stories about all kinds of things that go bump in the night.

But when it's night and the lights go off, they return to worry her.

VILLAINS

AND MONSTERS

AND BEASTS.

Oh, my!

One night a horned dragon comes roaring out of her favorite story! Then a bearded pirate wants to feed her to the sharks! And is that a grouchy bear at her door?

Nobody wants to go to bed with those things around.

Pippa doesn't just lie there. She runs to her parents' room! But they always bring her back to her own bed.

But Pippa has a PLAN.

She leaves an invitation inside all her favorite scary storybooks.

SHARPEN YOUR CLAWS!

PREPARE YOUR FUR AND PAWS!

COME SCARE THE PANTS OFF PIPPA!

And when all else fails, Pippa designs costume wardrobes for each beast and brute and baddie, They try on top hats and tutus, ballgowns and boas, and, of course, matching purses and shoes.

"STRUT YOU STUFF!" SAYS PIPPA.

The creatures have a blast, parading and posing until they're too pooped to pop. And when they drop off to sleep, Pippa cruises to her own bed for a good night's snooze.

Pippa discovers that with her imagination, she can beat the storybook monsters at their own game, in Lisa Robinson's Pippa's Night Parade (Two Lions Press, 2019).  Artist Lucy Fleming provides the storybook baddies, and Pippa creates the posh garb to keep her mental monsters nattily attired and ultimately too tired to cause trouble in a bedtime story that turns the tables on nighttime fears.

Hard Times Come: What Is Given From the Heart by Patricia McKissack

It was a rough few months for Mama and me. We were already poor, but we got poorer last April when Daddy went to sleep on the porch and never woke up. Come June, we lost the farm and moved to a run-down shotgun house in the Bottoms.

On Friday the 13th, everything flooded and Smitty, my dog, disappeared. "Misery loves company," said Mama, as she swept water out the front door. She shook her head. "Long as we got our health and strength, we are blessed, James Otis," she said.

Christmas came and there was one small gift for James Otis, but in February the Reverend Dennis told the congregation they were going to give love boxes, especially to Irene Temple and her little daughter Sarah, who had lost everything when their house burned down. James wondered what he could give that a little girl would want, but Mama tells him...

"What is given from the heart, reaches the heart."

James Otis looked through his stuff. His sparkly rock was, after all, just a rock. His crayons were broken and worn down, and two were missing. Then he notices Mama, sewing Mrs. Temple an apron out of her best tablecloth. James Otis gets busy with his crayons.

And on Love Box Sunday, James puts his gift in the Temple's box.

"A book about ME?" asked little Sarah. She giggled. "I want to read it myself!"

And there's a love box on his own porch when James Otis gets home, in Patricia McKissack's last story for children, What Is Given from the Heart (Schwartz and Wade, 2019), a posthumous gift to young readers, joining her Caldecott Medal book, Mirandy and Brother Wind and Newbery book, The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural from the many in her long career. "A treasure from a marvelous storyteller," writes School Library Journal's starred review, and Booklist adds "... a moving story that attests to life's most important values."

The (Dog) Show Must Go On! Amelia Bedelia Unleashed! by Herman Parish

Supper was almost ready. Something, however, was amiss.

"Amelia Bedelia, have you set the table yet?

Remember the napkins!" called her mother.

"I do!" yelled Amelia Bedelia. "They are dark blue, with white flowers!"

"Right," said her mom. "But please remember to put them out. And do you need glasses?"

"No!" said Amelia Bedelia. "Only Dad wears them!"

When Amelia Bedelia's parents finally sit down for dinner, she comes up with a question that stops the conversation cold.

"Can we have a baby?"

But before the speechless parents can compose themselves, a woman rings the doorbell asking for help finding her lost darling dog "Baby," and Amelia Bedelia is off on a series of dog-gone adventures that include finding the lost dog, deciding she wants a dog of her own, helping her friend, Diana with her dog-walking job to discover what kind of dog she wants, trying out skateboarding while she's holding a dog leash, and winding up helping her friend Charlie bathe and groom his poodle Pierre for the dog show. Nobody will be surprised when Amelia Bedelia has to handle Pierre the Poodle in the dog show. Pierre doesn't win, but he is declared the Most Unusual in Show.

It's a typical day in the Bedelia household, with the young Mistress of Malapropisms present and accounted for, in Herman Parish's Amelia Bedelia Unleashed (HarperCollins), the second in his series of early chapter books for rising primary grade readers. With short and fast-moving chapters loaded with plenty of Bedelia-isms, Herman Parish, nephew of Peggy Parish, creator of the original Amelia Bedelia picture book series, has added new books for fans of the Parish family library. Early elementary readers will be whizzing through these brisk narratives filled with Lynne Avril's line drawings to illustrate it all. For more malapropisms, puns, and wordplay, pair this one with the first book in the series, Amelia Bedelia Means Business.

Summer Spash! Brownie and Pearl Take A Dip by Cynthia Rylant

It is a hot day. Brownie and Pearl are going to take a dip.

They round up their gear--beach ball, towel, swim suit, sunglasses, swim goggles--and put the hose in the wading pool to fill it up with fresh water.

Brownie tests the temperature with one toe. Pearl checks it out, too.

Feels nice!

Brownie wades about while Pearl perches on the side and tries to pull on her goggles.

Pearl falls in!

She's soppy! Pearl climbs out, totally bedraggled and a little miffed that Brownie is giggling so hard. Her fur and her feelings are ruffled. But at last Brownie grabs the towel to soak up some of the water and smooth her hurt feelings, and they dry out in the hot sun.

Summer has begun, in noted author Cynthia Rylant's Brownie and Pearl Take a Dip (Beach Lane Books). Artist Bryan Biggs add some humorous touches to his illustrations with a little bird, first seen through the window and then joining the two with sunhat and sunglasses and goggles. This one is good for prepping the youngest for pool outings and as an easy reading picture book for emergent readers. Share this one with Rylant's Brownie and Pearl See the Sights and Brownie and Pearl Hit the Hay.

ZZinema! Fly Guy and the Alienzz by Tedd Arnold

A boy named Buzz had a pet fly. Buzz liked the fly because he could say his name perfectly... BUZZ!

One day Buzz said, "Hey, Fly Guy, I'm making a movie, It will be about aliens! Aliens are guys that come from space."

"BIRDZZZ?" asked Fly Guy.

Buzz draws some alien characters for Fly Guy to see and glues them to sticks. He also draws himself and Fly Guy as stick puppets and provides a backdrop, a cool Secret Hero Fort for his two space adventurers. He turns a flashlight into an alien spaceship with a killer ray gun and makes a solid gold space ship for the heroes.

Buzz sets up his phone as the movie camera.

"QUIET ON THE SET. ACTION!"

Fly Guy and Buzz-Boy cruise through space until they are attacked by space alienzz with the deadly light ray guns on their space ship. Their ship crashes into their fort, but Fly Guy manages to escape. He is joined by Fly Girl and together they zoom into space to save Buzz-Boy from space pirates and from Dragon Dude, who counter-attack with galactic fly swatters. The pirates capture the solid gold spaceship with Buzz-Boy still a prisoner inside and blast off into Deep Space.

Oh, no! Is Buzz-Boy a prisoner, lost in space?

"OOPS!" says Buzz. "we must make a movie sequel and rescue Buzz-Boy!"

"YEZZ!" says Fly Guy.

To Be Continued!

It's now an outer space series, in Tedd Arnold's latest in his own long-running and best-selling beginning readers stories, Fly Guy and the Alienzz (Fly Guy 18) (Scholastic/Cartwheel Books, 2018). Learning to read can be difficult, but veteran author-illustrator Tedd Arnold is able to rescue youngsters from the reading jitters with his hilarious drawings and far-out funny stories of a boy and his compound-eyed best buddy.“Fans of the series won't be disappointed in this easy-to-read intergalactic adventure” is the buzz from School Library Journal.

For more out-of-sight easy and silly stories by this author, lift off story time with Tedd Arnold's Parts (Picture Puffin Books), More Parts (Picture Puffin Books) and Even More Parts for some gloriously giggle-fest, out-of-body anatomy lessons.

Tabby Does Storytime: Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page by Cynthia Rylant

Mr. Putter and Tabby liked quiet things--like napping and reading. Mr. Putter read quietly to Tabby. When he did, Tabby purred (not too loudly). They liked libraries, too, because they were usually quiet. But one day Mr. Tabby saw a sign there that gave him a new idea:

READ ALOUD WITH YOUR PET AT STORY TIME.

Mr. Putter signed up.

He was even excited. So...

Mr. Putter made a mistake. He told his neighbor, Mrs. Teabury.

Mrs. Teabury loved anything new. Anything.

Her good dog Zeke loved anything new and exciting. And everything was exciting to Zeke.

Mr. Putter was worried about taking Zeke to the library storytime, but the deed was done. He practiced reading his bear book with GUSTO! He worried about combining Zeke and gusto.

At the library Mrs. Teaberry read her book about a dog.

When the dog in the story barked, Zeke barked.

When the dog in the story howled, Zeke howled.

He even ran away, just like the dog in the story. But Mrs. Teaberry knew Zeke always came back, so she did not get excited.

Mr. Putter read his bear story with lots of gusto. Tabby went from lap to lap to one head and purred, and the kids clapped loudly when his story was done.

Suddenly Zeke came back from the staff break room with a cheese sandwich in his mouth.

He also smelled of grapefruit juice!

Storytime had been very exciting.

It wasn't all that quiet, but everyone shared in the gusto, and now it's time to head home for tea and raisin biscuits in Mrs. Teaberry's kitchen, in Cynthia Rylant's Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). There are many humorous subtleties in artist Arthur Howard's clever and comical drawings to fill in the details in Rylant's story of friendship, libraries, and a bit of gusto. Says Booklist,In the 20 years since the Mr. Putter and Tabby series began, its signature combination of storytelling, wit, and humanity have made it a staple of the beginning reader section."

Recalibrating! Best Friends In The Universe by Stephanie Watson

Louie and Hector have a lot in common. They are such good friends they just have to write a book about their friendship.

"Wanna know why we're best friends? "says Louie.

"We both love pythons!" says Hector.

"Our moms got us both fish. We both named our fish Python, says Louie.

They both love knock-knock jokes and dancing to loud music. They both love inventing new foods.

"Here's a peanut butter toast milkshake!" says Louie.

They are such good friends that they decide they need to change the title of their book....

BEST FRIENDS IN THE UNIVERSE FOREVER AND EVER!

"We keep each other's secrets," brags Louie.

"Like how one time Louie wet his pants after too much peanut butter toast milkshake!" says Hector.

"You just told everyone my secret!" says Louie. Ooopsie!

SO... Louie smirks, as he raises his voice. "Hector likes Linda Berger!"

Maybe it's time to retitle their book again!

WORST FRIENDS IN THE UNIVERSE?

Is this the end of the friendship of Louie and Hector? Or will they find that their goldfish are just not up to being best friends? After all, fish don't dance and their sense of humor is totally lacking!

After all, maybe their kind of loose-lipped friendship is worth a do-over, in Stephanie Watson's humorous story of best friends forever in spite of themselves, Best Friends in the Universe (Scholastic Books). With the hilarious and ebullient faux naif crayon drawings of noted picture book artist Le Uyen Pham, this is one funny and fun friendship that kids will love and perhaps from which they may learn a bit about being good friends.

Critter Conspiracy: Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin

Farmer Brown is going on vacation. He left his brother Bob in charge of the animals.

"I wrote everything down for you," he told him. "Just follow instructions and everything will be fine.

Just keep a eye on Duck. He's trouble."

Brother Bob's a laid-back kind of guy. He's got written directions. The animals seem to like him. He's got this!

What could possibly go wrong?

But Bob fails to notice that Farmer Brown has dropped his pencil on the road and Duck is retrieving it with a gleam in his eye.

The next day he reads his first note of instructions.

Tuesday is pizza night. (NOT the frozen kind) The hens prefers anchovies.

So on Tuesday Brother Bob forks over the big bucks and a sizable tip to the pizza delivery boy for seven extra-large pizzas. When Farmer Brown calls from his tropical isle, Bob tells him he's got everything under control.

The directions for Wednesday instruct Brother Bob to bathe the pigs with Farmer Brown's bubble bath and best bath towels. Bob sweats as he spends his day as proprietor of a pampered pig spa for the sows, piglets, shoats, and one sudsy boar!

The next note says that Thursday night is Movie Night. While the animals get comfy on the sofa, Bob pops a pile of popcorn. Just as he's got it ready, Farmer Brown calls to check on things.

But what's that he hears in the living room?

It's the strains of a song: "The hills are alive ... with the sound of MOOsic!" and a chorus of critters:

GIGGLE GIGGLE QUACK! MOO! GIGGLE! OINK!

It's a case of When Farmer Brown is away, the critters will play, with a little help from Duck's cleverly counterfeited notes, in Doreen Cronin's best-selling easy-to-read barnyard tale, Giggle, Giggle, Quack (A Click, Clack Book) (Simon and Schuster), along with Betsy Lewin's familiar comic blackline and watercolored spot-art illustrations that help youngsters read this one themselves. Other books in this mega-popular series are Dooby Dooby Moo/Ready-to-Read (A Click Clack Book), Click, Clack, Surprise!/Ready-to-Read (A Click Clack Book), and Betsy Lewin's Caldecott-winning  Ready-to-Read book with author Cronin, Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type.