Things That Go Bump...: Tiny T. Rex And The Very Dark Dark by Jonathan Stutzman

WHEN I AM INSIDE, THE DARK DOESN'T SEEM SO DARK.

OUTSIDE THE DARK IS VERY VERY DARK. THERE ARE NO NIGHTY LIGHTS TO TURN ON.

AND WHEN THERE ARE NO NIGHTY LIGHTS TO TURN ON, THE GRUMBLES AND NOMBIES COME OUT.

Tiny T. Rex and his brother Pointy are new to this sleeping out business. Mom had told them that if they were brave, they would find a light out there somewhere, but they are not so sure about that.

Is there light inside the stomachs of the Crawly-Creeps? Yikes! They need a plan.

While Dad in his chair is nodding over his newspaper, they sneak back inside and get a string of Christmas lights out of the closet. They hustle back out, put up a tablecloth tent, hang up lights all over the backyard trees, and huddle together, hoping their PLAN works.

WE HAVE MADE A SUPER-BRIGHT NIGHTY LIGHT!

But even Dad's snoring and Mom's crunching a celery snack inside sound like the Crawly Creeps and the Grumbles and Nombies coming after them. Are they brave enough to huddle together and look around for those lights Mom promised?

And the two little dino brothers discover that Mom was right. The stars always come out and the moon always rises, in Jonathan Stutzman's not-too-scary scary story about the things that don't quite go bump in the night, Tiny T. Rex and the Very Dark Dark: (Read-Aloud Family Books, Dinosaurs Kids Book About Fear of Darkness) (Chronicle Books, 2020).

Author Jonathan Stutzman's text builds tension cleverly as illustrator Jay Fleck's adorable T-Rex brothers, Pointy and the wee Tiny T., tough it out and fight the fright in their first night sleepout, and young readers will be find reassurance as well.

Share this one during the scary season with Stutzman and Fleck's just published Tiny T. Rex and the Tricks of Treating (Chronicle Books, 2021).

Campout! Raj And The Best Vacation EVER! by Sebastien Braun

 

DAD AND I ARE GOING ON A TRIP. I KNOW IT'S GOING TO BE THE BEST VACATION EVER.

"ARE WE GOING TO ANTARCTICA?" ASKS RAJ.

There's so much equipment to load in the car. Raj helps as they fill the trunk and load a roof carrier with camping stuff!. But there's no canoe, and Raj wants a canoe trip.

It's a long way. They play car games. They sing "Wheels on the Bus!" Raj asks "Are we there yet?" several times. But at last they pull into the camp, pulling in right behind a minibus with a bear family inside. The Bears quickly put up their huge tent. Raj's dad has quite a struggle.

"HANG ON. WHERE DOES THIS POLE GO?"

"... TERRIBLE INSTRUCTIONS!... MUMBLE..."

"...THIS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS... MUMBLE GRUMBLE..."

The Bears offer help, but Dad declines, determined to do it himself. When the tent is finally done and they crawl into their sleeping bags, Raj decides he really, really has to go to the camp rest room. Dad trips on a tent stay on the way back in the dark.

In the morning Dad grumbles about wet matches when he tries to start the camp stove. The Bears offer to share their breakfast spread, but Dad wants to do it himself. They finally eat cereal for breakfast, and leave for their hike up the mountain. The Bear family pass them on the way up, singing jolly marching songs.

But after lunch, Dad has a surprise for Raj. They rent a canoe and set off down river. The man at Knut's Canoes calls out a warning as they paddle off.

"DON'T FORGET TO TURN LEFT AT THE SIGN!"

It doesn't take a Shakespeare to guess what happens next! It seems if you don't turn left, you will be heading for the waterfall downstream.

Sometimes doing it yourself is a good idea, but when your canoe is heading for a small waterfall, it's good to have some experienced friends handy. The veteran camping experts, the Bear Family, pitches in on the rescue, and all's well that ends with campfire-toasted marshmallows among friends, in Sebastien Braun's story of adventures in the big woods, Raj and the Best Vacation Ever! (Templar Books, 2021).

A nice plug for friendly cooperation, this is a fun read-aloud story of the ups and downs of family camp-outs, and veteran camper kids will doubtless be happy to chime in with their own family campout adventures and misadventures. As Kirkus Reviews puts it, "A sweet and satisfying book about a vacation that goes wrong before it goes right."

For more adventures with Raj, see Braun's first book, Raj and the Best Day Ever.

Campout! Biscuit Goes Camping by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

It is a warm, late summer evening. Just the time to do something special!

A girl, already in her PJs, heads out into the backyard and under the clothesline with a pillow and a bundle of blankets.

This way, Biscuit. It's time to go camping.

WOOF!

She has her tarp. She has her blankets and pillow and flashlight and baggie of cookies. She tries to toss one side of the tarpaulin over the clothesline. Biscuit grabs another corner and starts pulling.

Silly puppy!

The girl evens up the four corners and anchors them down with four big rocks. Voila' A tent!

WOOF! Biscuit is distracted by something new that hops! The girl shines her flashlight on Biscuit's find. It's a frog! Then Biscuit spots something blink-blinking in the air. Biscuit barks again!

It's a FIREFLY!

Leaves blow in the wind, Whooooooo! Biscuit is a little bit intimidated.

WOW! The wind and the firefly seems to be telling them it's time to turn out the light. By the moonlight the girl, one flip flop on and one off, and Biscuit curl up together, cookies forgotten, and close their eyes.

But then.... UH-OH!

CRACK! BOOM!

Rain begins to splatter down, as the race is on to the kitchen door that Mom is holding open for them. Biscuit gets there first, making a B-line for his doggie bed.

The campout continues on the little round rug beside Biscuit's bed, as the two snuggle up together under their own covers, in Alyssa Satin Capucilli's Biscuit Goes Camping (My First I Can Read) (Harper). In fact, someone else came inside with them--the firefly!

Author Capucilli's simple narrative sticks to the high points of the action, accompanied by artist Pat Schories' sweetly and skillfully-drawn accompanying illustrative cues to make this My First I Can Read book for emergent readers a fun and funny adventure for the primary set, of which the Biscuit series are a standout. There are plenty more of these and other landmark beginner reader books in Harper's excellent catalog which help parents and teachers in making reading time fun time.

Sleeping Under the Stars: Llama, Llama Goes Camping, an Anna Dewdney Book

"I'm excited!

Llama Llama had never camped overnight before.

Neither had Nelly Gnu, Luna, Gilroy, or Euclid.

"It will be super fun," Mama Llama says.

Llama Llama had been outside lots of times, but he'd never really been outdoors--in the Great OUTDOORS.

But with the van full of equipment and essentials and with Mama and Grandma Llama as guides, Llama and friends are off for their first overnight campout in the woods. Everyone is supposed to be traveling light, but Euclid's idea of essentials is devices, lots of devices--a whole backpack just for gadgets.

The kids help set up the tents--without Euclid's digital measurement gismo--and the gang is a off for a hike before dark falls, listening for forest sounds.

"I want to make a recording," says Euclid.

"Let's just listen hard," says Mama Llama.

Back just in time, Mama and Grandma help the kids build a campfire, without fire-starting devices, and Grandma has them each find a long and strong stick and peel off the bark for--toasting marshmallows!

Finally it's time to crawl into their tents and let the night sounds sing them to sleep, sans gadgets.

Soon the sun wakes up the campers and they get to make their breakfasts on a fresh campfire. Euclid offers his portable waffle make, but no one is interested. Instead, everyone congratulates Euclid on making it through the night without using a single device.

"It was a fun challenge," said Euclid.

It's a different experience for the older and wiser Llama Llama and his buddies, in Llama Llama Loves Camping (An Anna Dewdney Book) (Penguin, 2018), as Llama and his school buddies have a new experience in sleepovers. Anna Dewdney's familiar characters and narrative style are in evidence in this episode from the new Netflix series of preschool adventures, based on Dewdney's beloved picture book series begun with Llama Llama Red Pajama (See reviews here.)

Getting Away From It All: Monster & Mouse Go Camping by Deborah Underwood

Mouse is psyched. She interrupts her friend Monster in standard mode, scarfing up a snack, with her big idea.

"Let's go camping!" she said.

"What's camping?" Monster asked.

"You walk in the woods. You sleep in a tent. You tell spooky stories." says Mouse.

Camping sounds scary, but Mouse says she'll take care of Monster. She also promises something Monster will love--tasty camp-out treats! Monster is ready to go right away, but Mouse makes a simple list--tent, two sleeping bags, food, and a lantern lamp. Monster loads up his red wagon, and they are OFF! 

Mouse and Monster walk deep into the woods. Mouse hears the sound of a stream and offers to go ahead to reconnoiter. While Monster waits, he gets a little peckish.

Monster had a snack.

He eats the lamp.

Mouse returns and the two campers trudge down the trail. Mouse offers to go ahead and scout for campground markers. Monster agrees to wait, but he soon gets the munchies and chows down on their sleeping bags.

Following the trail markers, Mouse spies a hill ahead and offers to go up and check it out. Monster stays with the wagon, but while he waits, he wolfs down the tent. Mouse returns to announce she's found the perfect place to camp atop the hill.

Let's set up the tent!" said Mouse.

"Uh-oh," said Monster.

Monster has to 'fess up that he's eaten the sleeping bags and the tents. He's so sorry.

Mouse magnanimously says not to fret. It'll be fun to sleep on the grass under the stars, she says.

Hand me the lamp so I can find our food."

Ooops! Monster assures Mouse that the one thing he did not eat was their food. But this time it's Mouse's turn to confess a mea culpa.

"I forgot the food." she admits.

Mouse's campout is not panning out as promised! It's getting chilly and dark, and they are starving. But then Mouse spots a glimmer of light and smells something very much like roasting s'mores ahead. It's a family of campers, with a campfire, camp lamp, and cozy tents, and Dad is telling a scary story in a spooky voice:

"But then," Dad was saying, dramatically, "a terrifying monster came...."

"Excuse me," Monster says politely, stepping into the clearing....

All's well that ends well, as Monster appears the flickering firelight and the human family makes a hasty escape in their SUV. It would be a shame to let that cozy campsite go to waste, so Mouse and Monster have a classic campout after all, in Deborah Underwood's charming new picture book, Monster and Mouse Go Camping (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018). Mouse and Monster are the usual odd couple of unlikely buddies in a clever story in which Underwood drolly sets up a denouement in which Monster's sudden appearance clears the campsite in a trice. Underwood's delightfully daffy story is ably assisted by noted artist Jared Chapman, whose cartoon illustrations in comic color and line tell the story with stylish visual humor.

Underwood is the seasoned author of many popular picture books, including The Quiet Book and sequels, and Here Comes the Easter Cat and sequels (see reviews here), and Jared Chapman is the noted illustrator of Steve, Raised by Wolves Vegetables in Underwear and Veggies with Wedgies (read reviews here).

From the Secret Files! The X Files--Earth Children Are Weird by Chris Carter and Jason Rekulak

"The alien spaceship vanished into the sky and it was never seen again. THE END"

Dana closed her book.

"That was really scary, Dana," said Fox. "Maybe we should sleep inside the house."

"Don't be silly, Fox," said Dana. You know aliens are not real!"

Dana and Fox are camping out in a tent in their backyard. Fox clutches his flashlight and reminds Dana that, with billions of planets in the universe, there are sure to be curious aliens willing to spy on earth creatures.

"Here we go again...!" says Dana with a smirk.

But just then something happens. What's that bright light? Isn't that what aliens do when they land their ships?

FLASH!

Dana points out that the flash is their porch light being turned on by their parents inside, as they come out on the porch to remind them to turn off the flashlights and go to sleep.

"Time for bed!"

But with the porch light off again, Fox spots a strange and spooky shadow. Could that be an alien?

But no, it's just their dog, Buster, looking for a hug. Okay, but what's that giant footprint Fox sees?

Dana points out that it's the site for their new swimming pool, just begun the day before.

Suddenly they hear an alien noise:

Hooo-Squee-HOOO!

It's just an owl. And that squeaky noise? Is it aliens planning an attack? Dana drags Fox out of the tent to investigate. No, it's the swing, moving in the breeze.

"I guess I do have a really wild imagination," admits Fox.

Dana readily agrees as the two head back to their tent.

"Did you leave the tent unzipped?" Fox wonders.

"No," says Dana. "Did you?"

Those couldn't be green aliens inside their tent, eating their popcorn, could it?

They'll never know (or will they?), in Chris Carter and Jason Rekulak's The X-Files: Earth Children Are Weird: A Picture Book (Pop Classics) (Quirk Books, 2017), as Dana and Fox dash inside to the safety of their own beds. Their parents give each other a knowing look and then exchange a few whispered words...

"//%#@**//!," says Dad. "//Squee HOOO!//" snickers Mom. "??OIVAIUYI!//" woofs Buster.

The lurking alien spaceship in the sky might be a hint that perhaps Fox's fears aren't too, er, far out, in Carter and Rekulak's rebooting of the well-known TV show's premise. It's still a wacky but promising plotline for early elementary readers (who may sometimes wonder what planet their own family members are from,) and the authors, helped by the cartooning skills of artist Kim Smith, manage enough sight gag clues to keep readers wondering right to the last page. For TV nostalgics, Publishers Weekly points out the genesis of this picture book series, saying, "In this picture book riff on The X-Files, Fox and Dana are best buddies having a backyard campout, fulfilling the same roles they did in the cult TV series."

Too Cool Cub: Splat the Cat and the Hotshot by Rob Scotten, et al

Splat is late for Cub Scouts.

Splat throws on his Scout scarf and tries to tie it right as he rushes out of the house. And when he arrives breathless, Mr. Mutt the leader seems a bit displeased.

"I thought you forgot," he said.

"Meet our new scout, Scott!"

Scott looked like a real hotshot!

Scott is impressive, with his squared shoulders and military spit-spot uniform, perfectly-tied scarf, and badge-filled belt. Splat feels a little scruffy beside him.

But Scott seems to be a nice guy, despite his super scout presence. He offers to help Splat with his knot-tying when he sees that Splat's rope is mostly tangles instead of knots. Scout Scott's campfire-building is pretty hot, too.

Splat's was not.

Next Mr. Mutt pulls out a map for their hike the next day, and Scott pops up to say he's hiked the trail many times already. O-kay. Splat gets it that Scott IS a hotshot, at least in the Cub Scout department. Splat is sure he's going to look like doofus compared to wonder-boy Scott. Nervously, Splat frets as he worries over not forgetting anything as he packs up. His backpack is a bit bulgy, not spit-spot neat like Scott's.

But when the troop makes a stop for lunch, Splat seems to be the only one who remembered a pot to heat the soup over the campfire. He also passes around some dried fruit for the hungry scouts to munch on while the fire gets hot and so does the soup. Splat is beginning to feel like a competent scout after all.

And when Scott the Hotshot "Leader of the Pack" fails to check the log bridge over the creek for rotten spots, Splat does NOT. Scott's the one who lands in the muddy stream below. But again Splat has remembered the Scout motto: BE PREPARED! He fishes a long rope out of his well-provisioned backpack and tosses one end to Scott. But before Splat can enlist other scouts to pull, Scott grabs at his end and Splat lands (SPLAT!) beside Scott.

Splat and Scott can't help laughing as they splash each other off. And as they help each other out of the stream, Mr. Mutt has something to say.

"YOU ARE ONE PREPARED SCOUT, SPLAT.

THE THINGS YOU BROUGHT HIT THE SPOT!

We've all had the experience of dealing with the "hotshot," the person whose air of confident cool makes us lose our own self-confidence, and Rob Scotten's little cat character Splat points up the many ways anyone can be of value in the group. In Splat the Cat and the Hotshot (I Can Read Level 1) HarperCollins, 2015), kids get a bit of social understanding along with Scouting knowledge and reading practice in the "ot" sound in this inexpensive "I-Can-Read" (Level One) book for beginning readers from Harper's famous series. Text author Laura Driscoll provides the list of fifteen words in advance of the story for pre-practice in sounding out the words, and Robert Eberz contributes the drawings faithfully in Scotten's style.

Camping with Big T: Camp Rex by Molly Idle

SEARCHING FOR AN OUTING TO ENJOY WITH YOUR FRIENDS?

CONSIDER CAMPING.

Perhaps the doughty Cordelia should have done a bit more considering ahead of the event. But here she is, in khaki dress and hat, well provisioned, setting out for the wilds with her troop. The fact that her companions are her tea-party acquaintance T. Rex and three of his pre-paleo pals doesn't seem to overly concern the prepossessing Cordelia.

In her best Girl Guide manner, she lines up the prospective campers and reads them the rules of  safe camping. Security from unwanted interlopers is not a problem with this brawny crew, but she realizes that proper respect for the environment is something she needs to inculcate in this bunch.  She reads from her guidebook:

"REFRAIN FROM DISTURBING THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE. . .

OR ITS INHABITANTS. . . ."

Too late. The dinos snack on poison ivy and T. Rex himself presents her with a souvenir beehive that has, um, come to hand. Soon the troop and leader are running from the swarm and are forced to leap into an icy mountain stream and stay underwater long enough to throw the bees off the scent.

"IF THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF, THERE'S NOTHING MORE REFRESHING THAN A DIP IN A MOUNTAIN LAKE OR A BIT OF CANOEING."

After an unplanned and hazardous run down the rapids, the group re-groups, with a few fresh trout for dinner dangling from their pockets, to tackle making a campfire and campsite. Cordelia succeeds despite the help of her troop in raising her pup tent, while the others pitch their tents literally, settling for pitching the insufficient rectangles of canvas over their horns or spikes or heads. Whatever.

After making a campfire (T. Rex offers a tree as kindling!), Cordelia lulls her ebullient campers with a singalong and a marshmallow roast (in T.'s case, it's a bag-of-marshmallows roast).

In her sequel to her popular Tea Rex (see review here), Molly Idle's newest, Camp Rex (Viking Books, 2014), takes our mannered Victorian tea party hostess out into the woods with a rowdy group of juvenile dinosaurs, whose naive attempts to follow her oh-so-proper instructions provide for comic relief along the nature trail. Idle's flat and subdued watercolor illustrations make the most of her bulky and impetuous companions, in droll contrast to her heroine's decorous composure at all times.

"SERIOUS CAMPERS ARE AS MUCH AT HOME IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS...

AS THEY ARE IN THEIR OWN BACKYARDS..."

Cordelia pontificates, as in her funny final spread, Idle reveals that these campers have been at home at home at a backyard sleepover the whole time.  Publishers Weekly writes "Once again, the deadpan writing and careful compositions work in tandem for maximum comic impact.

Oh, What a Tangled Web: Just Grace and the Super Sleepover by Charlise Mericle Harper

Today when Mimi came over, all she wanted to talk about was the sleepover. I tried to change the subject, but every time I did, she just changed it back. And then it was too late to tell her the truth.

Mimi's favorite thing about the party was the number one thing I didn't like. It was weird to have us feeling so different about it. I wanted to make myself be like her, and be excited, but I couldn't. Just thinking about being in the dark, with creatures all around, made my ears hot and my hands sweaty. Plus now I was worried about beetles, too.

I was a good actress, though, because Mimi didn't seem to notice.

Just Grace and Mimi have always felt the same about almost everything. But when their classmate Grace F. decides that her birthday party will be a campout in her backyard, Mimi can't wait. Grace, on the other hand, can't bear to think about it--creepy spiders and crawly bugs and nighttime animals all around. And what if Grace F.'s backyard is next to a graveyard?

Just Grace just can't tell the gung-ho Mimi that she's afraid, so she just nods when Mimi keeps talking. Grace knows it's wrong to lie, but figures that a small nod is a only a small lie. But then Mimi suggests that they both make super-special birthday cards for Grace F. after school. Just Grace worries so much about the sleepover that she forgets about the card until Mimi appears at her door the next morning.

The first thing she asked me was, "Did you make your card for Grace F.?"

The answer was no, I had totally forgotten about it, but that's not what I said. Without even thinking, my mouth said, "Yes."

Now, not only is Just Grace living a fib, pretending to be excited about the sleepover, but she has told her best friend an outright lie. As the two walk to school, Just Grace pretends to listen to Mimi's happy talk about the party, but her mind is already at school, figuring out how she can make a card before Mimi finds out. She asks for a pass to the library but Mimi decides to come along. Grace says she's changed her mind about getting a new book and pretends to be interested in some flyers from the desk, but when she drops them on the way back to class, she hastily tosses them into the recycling container by the library. Back in class, she pretends that she can't find the birthday card in her backpack.

Just Grace tries to make the card under her desk, but Miss Lois crossly tells her to pay attention. She gets a pass to the girls' bathroom but can't find anything to make a card from but paper towels. Then Miss Lois assigns Mimi to work with Grace on their geography project, and Grace has no chance to get away from her to make the card. On the way to lunch, Mimi tries to help her friend find her card.

"I know where it is! Don't you remember? This morning, you threw away some papers. I bet the card was in with those papers!" I nodded like I agreed with her.

Now Just Grace has to go back during lunch and pretend to look in the bin for a non-existent card. And when she comes back to the lunch table empty-handed, she finds herself telling the biggest lie yet.

"I was looking for the card I made for Grace F., but then something happened. The recycling container made a noise. I think there's a ghost in there."

Amazingly, all her friends swallow Just Grace's whopper, and one by one her classmates find an excuse to check out the recycling container beside the library. And strangely enough, a lot of them hear a ghostly sound, too! Just Grace can't believe what she has done.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive," is the theme of Charlise Mericle Harper's eleventh book in her series, Just Grace and the Super Sleepover (The Just Grace Series) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). Growing up with Grace means sharing third-grade experiences with Harper's likable character whose well-meaning white lie spirals into a tangled web that ends in a sort of third-grade mass hysteria, from which there is only one way out--to 'fess up to Mimi that she's afraid to sleep outside at the party. Can Just Grace find a way to end the spook-in-the-can craze and keep her best friend? She can, and in an imaginative but cleverly foreshadowed way that will please her readers. Cross my heart!!

Harper's skill lies in her use of Just Grace's self-revelatory internal narrative, illustrated by her own drawings, a method which has worked so well for Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  Young readers venturing into chapter books where there is the opportunity to develop a serious theme will find Harper's Just Grace just right in this funny but fraught story of primary-grade life.

Campout Washout! Bear in Underwear: Goodnight, Underwear by Todd H. Doodler

SEVEN FLASHLIGHTS ON THE GROUND.

SEVEN FRIENDS CIRCLING ROUND.

That Bear in Underwear and his friends--Sasquatch and Skunk and the rest of the guys--are on a campout. Eschewing the cozy cabin in the pines, the guys decide to rough it in their sleeping bags around the campfire, out under the stars. This is SO COOL!

SEVEN FRIENDS TUCKED IN TIGHT.
IT SHOULD BE QUITE A NIGHT.

That prediction comes true, all right. The seven campers meet all the joys of sleeping out.

First, it's not exactly quiet. An owl and a dove decide to do a duet: WHO WHO WHO COO, COO, COO.   Lovely!  Field mice march by in troupes of ten or so. Who knew little rodent feet could keep kids awake.
But then the real night forces attack the would-be campers: bugs in the eye, rocks under the sleeping bag, even a frog that someone has prankishly put in Bear's sleeping bag, strange moving shadows and critter sounds from the woods.  Then the real special forces come out in force-- commando mosquitoes! The seven would-be snoozers soon have a bad case of the itches and twitches.

But, of course, nobody wants to chicken out on the sleep-out. Until--is that thunder? And thunder means--WASHOUT for the campout!

Trailing pools of rainwater, Bear in Underwear and his friends repair to the cozy cabin,. It's time to strip out of those wet clothes and enjoy the pleasures of sleeping indoors!

GOODNIGHT TO UNDIES, MIGHTY FINE
THAT ARE DRYING ON THE LINE.
GOODNIGHT TO UNDERWEARING BEAR,
GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT UNDERWEAR.

Todd Doodler combines his talents with veteran author Harriet Ziefert in his latest skivvy story, Bear in Underwear: Goodnight Underwear (Blue Apple, 2013), closing with a spoofy nod to the classic Goodnight Moon. Doodler's signature bear in tightie whities is always a winner with the primary grade set, and the final page, with its clothesline full of the campers' soggy shorts and drippy briefs is a great visual joke to end this tale. Doodler's earlier undies sagas include Bear In Underwear, Bear, Do You Wear Underwear?, Bear in Long Underwear (Bear in Underwear), Bear in Pink Underwear, and What Color is Bear's Underwear? (Bear in Underwear), all with the underlying theme that self-esteem makes the man, er, Bear, not his wardrobe. Guaranteed giggles and great fun for storytime or the beginning reader.