Buyer Beware! Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark and Rowan Sommerset

LITTLE BAA BAA WAS BORED.

THEN ALONG CAME QUIRKY TURKEY.

If idle hands (or hooves) are the devil's workshop, so are idle brains.

And when Baa Baa is bored, well....

Quirky Turkey appears, wishes Baa Baa a good day, and notices a pile of roundish things on the ground nearby.

"WHAT'S THAT?"

"SMART PILLS," SAYS BAA BAA.

"IT LOOKS LIKE POO," SAID QUIRKY TURKEY.

Huh! Quirky Turkey is no bird brain. Little Baa Baa can't hoodwink him.

Turkey asks if the pills can really make him smarter. Sure, Baa Baa says, adding that Turkey could become a real brainiac. But he has to swallow them, right? asks Turkey. Well, sure.

What's the price? queries Quirky Turkey cagily.

"FREE," SAYS BAA BAA.

"ONLY TODAY."

Then Baa Baa moves in to close the deal.

"AND ONLY TO TURKEYS!"

Hmmm! Can't beat that deal, Quirky Turkey muses. And he IS a turkey....

He gobbles the smart pills.

"IT IS POO!"

"SEE?" SAYS BAA BAA. "YOU'RE SMARTER ALREADY! "

There's one born every minute, and in Mark and Rowan Sommerset's timely trickster tale, Baa Baa Smart Sheep (Candlewick Press, 2016), con man Baa Baa knows a mark when he sees one and pulls the wool over Quirky Turkey's eyes. It's a pretty stinky trick to play on a gullible friend, one that, er, doesn't go down well, but after all, author Rowan Sommerset posts his caveat emptor right there on the cover:

WARNING!
MISCHIEF INSIDE

Youngsters, of course, will find this story of a flim-flamming, sheep scam the source of hearty belly laughs, illustrated as it is in modestly simple style, with sly dialog that builds toward the inevitable punch line. "Barnyard high jinks that won't be to everyone's taste," wryly warns Kirkus Reviews!

But just in case it is, watch for the companion book forthcoming in August, I Love Lemonade, (think about it!) in which would-be trickster Quirky Turkey attempts to turn the tables on Little Baa Baa.

Bedding Down: The SheepOver (Sweet Pea and Friends) by John and Jennifer Churchman

IT WAS WAY PAST BEDTIME, AND LADDIE THE SHEEP DOG WAS STILL AWAKE....

A good sheep dog sleeps lightly, and Laddie senses that something is amiss among the stalls. It's time to wake up Farmer John.

As Owl calls and Red Fox steals past the barn on silent feet, Farmer John follows his sheep dog to where the orphan lamb Sweet Pea is curled up in the hay.

SWEET PEA'S NOSE WAS HOT AND PINK.

SHE COULDN'T STAND UP BY HERSELF.

Sadie the pony and Prem, Sunny, and Violet, the grown-up sheep watch as Farmer John gently picks up Sweet Pea and carries her up to the greenhouse on the hill. The rooster Buff Orpington crows her name and Keeper the goose honks out...

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH SWEET PEA?

But Farmer John knows what to do. He calls up Vet Allison and soothes little Sweet Pea, promising that when she is well, he will let her have a sheep sleepover with all her friends in the greenhouse.

The country vet quickly diagnoses an infected cut which is causing ther fever, and Laddie and Prem stay with Sweet Pea as she begins to recover.

And sure enough, Sweet Pea is soon frolicking again with Sunny and Violet, and when everyone has been invited, the big SheepOver is a success, with disco dancing and treats for all the animals.

IT WAS THE BEST SHEEPOVER EVER!

John and Jennifer Churchman's runaway hit, The SheepOver (Sweet Pea & Friends) (Little, Brown and Company, 2015) is an appealing story of the softer side of farm life. But the illustrations are the standout, combining actual photos of the Churchmans' animals enhanced with artwork which retains the look of real animals within a muted palette which intensifies their expressions, as the nighttime rural scenery and spatter-painted backgrounds reinforce the gentle warmth of the story. This is one lamb that preschoolers and young primary readers will want to invite to their own sleepovers.

They're BAAaak! Sheep Go To Sleep by Nancy Shaw

SCREECHES! RUSTLING! NOISY CRICKETS!
SHEEP HEAR HOOTS FROM NEARBY THICKETS.

NIGHTTIME NOISES SCARE THE SHEEP.
REALLY, WHO COULD GO TO SLEEP?

Sheep are a natural for a sleepytime story, except--these five sheep can't get to sleep.

They've got winking fireflies to light their way and get them in the mood to snooze; they've got a fold filled with fluffy straw. So what's missing in this nocturnal mix?

Security, that's what. Sheep are not good sleepers! Why do you think they're up, nervously jumping fences at all hours, while wakeful wannabe snoozers are counting them from their beds?

Luckily, these sheep have just what they need, a watchful sheepdog, in the form of a jolly boarder collie pup who knows just what each sheep needs to get to sleep. The count goes up as Sheep One succumbs to snores after a snuggly doggy hug. Sheep Two needs a sip of water before he goes under, and Sheep Three is lured into slumber by a lullaby.

THREE SLEEP. HOW MANY MORE?

With three down, the last two sheep drop off in sleep with the delivery of that tried-and true bedtime duo--the Teddy bear and the blankie! It's all in a night's work for their watchdog, who finally gets his own forty winks, in Nancy Shaw's eighth in series, Sheep Go to Sleep (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

This newest in Shaw's Sheep Series has all the elements that have delighted children from the first book, Sheep in a Jeep--rhythmic rhyming couplets that feel just right, and Margot Apple's beguilingly silly sheep, their expressive faces and body language softly sketched in colored pencil. Artist Apple adds a quizzical observer to the pictures, a sleepy seagull who seems to have wandered into the story simply to nab a nap herself, and Shaw also slips in a bit of counting practice for the youngest sheep fans. Altogether a sweetly suggestive bedtime soother that can't help but induce sleepiness at just the right time of night.

That Won't Fly! Ewe and Aye by Candace Ryan

EWE LOVED WHEELS AND AYE LOVED WINGS.

Both Ewe and Aye were born to move, but Ewe yearned for wheels, and Aye eyed wings. Ewe is a woolly sheep who fashioned herself a little four-wheeled cart, figuring if She got up enough speed on a downhill run, she could achieve escape velocity and fly through the air. Aye (pronounced like "I") is a kind of lemur called an aye-aye who straps on wings straight out of Da Vinci's drawing book and leaps off the highest objects he can find, trying to soar through the air like a bird.

They both crash land. Aye fails to soar, and Ewe just gets sore.

EWE HAD A FLAT TIRE, AND AYE GOT FLAT TIRED.

Ewe and Aye have to help rescue each other from their failed inventions.

It's not working! They will never get it off the ground this way!

It's back to the drawing board, this time with the two members of this odd couple collaborating to combine wheels and wings. What results is a sort of ultra-light tandem bike with wings. With the two of them pedaling for all they're worth down their ramp, they manage to obtain enough air speed for lift off and find themselves sharing their dream together, flying with the birds, soaring past the clouds. After all, a joint venture worked for the Wright Brothers!

THERE WASN'T ANYWHERE THEY COULDN'T FLY... TOGETHER!

In Ewe and Aye (Hyperion Books, 2014), author Candace Ryan has some punny fun (and some funny puns) with her Ewe and Aye (you and I) doublespeak, which make good sense either way you read some of her clever constructions:

THEN ONE DAY WHEN EWE(YOU) GOT INTO TROUBLE, AYE (I) WAS THERE TO HELP.

Artist Stephane Ruble's ebullient cartoon characters and the strong, bright colors are rather, um, uplifting, as she creates a demolition derby with the pair first experiment with wheels and wings but finally rise to the occasion. It's all good (as Pete the Cat would say) when, in a glorious four-page gatefold, we get to see them lift off and jointly take to the air in full flight through the clouds in their fantastical flying bicycle built for two.

More Mutton! The Complete Adventures of Johnny Mutton by James Proimos

ONE DAY MOMMA MUTTON OPENED HER FRONT DOOR AND FOUND THAT A BABY HAD BEEN LEFT ON HER FRONT STEPS.

"B-A-A!"

"YOWZA!"

BUT IT WASN'T JUST ANY BABY.

IT WAS A BABY...

...SHEEP!

BUT MOMMA'S WEAK EYES AND WARM HEART KEPT HER FROM EVEN NOTICING.

And with the convenient surname of Mutton, nobody else seems to object to Johnny's being a sheep either. (Although Mr. Stockman is heard to observe "There's something odd about that boy.")

Johnny Mutton is certainly silly, but so sweet that he gets by with it. When his classmates all bring an apple for their teacher, Johnny brings a bag of Poofy Marshmallows, easier on Mr. Slapdash's false choppers. At Halloween, when all his friends show up as pirates or witches, Johnny Mutton comes costumed as a runny nose, with two long green socks hanging out of the nasal openings. Luckily, he meets his certain soulmate, Gloria Crust, attired as a giant box of tissues.

Momma Mutton is a terrific basketball player, but Johnny can't shoot, dribble, or catch a pass, except in his mouth. But Momma is understanding when Johnny reveals his secret desire.

"I WANT TO SWIM IN THE WATER BALLET."

Johnny Mutton went on to become a national hero by winning twenty gold medals in the Olympics for water ballet.

Whether it's bonding with his nemesis Mandy Dinkis in the dark in a game of Hide and Seek, or playing Pin The Tail On The Jell-o at his surprise birthday party for Gloria, matriculating at Mrs. Bottom's School of Manners, or showing scary Old Man Stagglemyer how to skateboard, Johnny Mutton is always...er... well,...

SO HIM!

James Proimos' brand-new compendium of Johnny Mutton cartoons, The Complete Adventures of Johnny Mutton (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), is guaranteed goofiness, certified silliness, and warranted wacky stuff. Great for fans of Harry Allard's and James Marshall's The Stupids series, Dav Pilkey's The Dumb Bunnies and Captain Underpants series, and Lincoln Peirce's Big Nate series, Proimos' over-the-top cartooning and pizazz-y zany stories are fluffy but rib-tickling fare for reluctant readers or giggle groupies.

Now Ewe Know: Little Lamb by L. Rigo

Bunnies, ducklings, chicks, and the ever-popular egg get most of the ink, but lambs are traditional symbols of Easter and spring, too, and rams, ewes, and especially lambs get their due in L.Rigo's Little Lamb (Mini Look at Me Books) (Barron's, 2014).

A small (even by board book standards) book, die-cut in the shape of a sweet, sitting lambkin and endowed with undeniable cuteness, this one is tiny enough for very young hands.  Its thick, sturdy pages are easy to turn, offering the youngsters an opportunity to handle a book and learn to turn the pages all by themselves.

The soft watercolor illustrations are of pleasant pastoral scenes, as new mothers lead their lambs out for the first time into the wide world.  There is some information for a read-aloud session with the sheep-family names--ewe, ram, lamb--and a smattering of knowledge--that older sheep eat grass, while little lambs just like mommy's milk--but because of its appealing shape, this toy-and-movable-book format is more "toy" than a "book," with only a few page turns of springtime scenes, a toy book that may even find its way into the crib or toddler bed.

For Easter gifts and baskets for toddlers, this one has a lot of visual and tactile appeal. There are also a whole flock  of literary lamb stories out there, including Laura Numeroff's and Lynn Munsinger's Lots of Lambs (see its review here), Little Lamb: Finger Puppet Book (Finger Puppet Brd Bks), Usborne's finger-feely-friendly That's Not My Lamb... (Usborne Touchy-Feely Books,) or for a nonfiction approach, Judy Dunn's popular The Little Lamb (Pictureback(R)).

Up All Night!: Simpson's Sheep Won't Go to Sleep by Bruce Arant

FARMER SIMPSON WORKS ALL DAY.

HE PLANTS HIS CORN AND BEANS AND HAY.

EACH NIGHT BEFORE HE GETS HIS REST,

THE FARMER TRIES HIS VERY BEST

TO GATHER UP HIS FLOCK OF SHEEP 

AND TELL THEM THAT IT'S TIME TO SLEEP.

The good farmer's call for lights out works just fine with the rest of the barnyard.  Ducks quack softly and hens cluck quietly and then they are off to dreamland. Ditto for the cows and pigs. But the sheep, those folkloric icons of dreamland?  They are a different story.  There's no rest for the weary with this fretful flock.

THEY ALL HAVE EXCUSES WHY THEY CAN'T LIE DOWN, OR EVEN TRY.

THEY NEED A DRINK, THEY WANT A SNACK. THEY HAVE TO "GO," THEY LIKE TO YAK.

The sheep grumble and toss and turn. Their pasture grass is too wet, the ground is hard and lumpy, something doesn't smell so good! On and on and on. Farmer Simpson can't catch his forty winks because of his wakeful sheep's constant complaints. He staggers through his daytime chores, eyes half closed, and it's the same story every night.

But then, when he drags himself to town to get a birthday gift for his good wife, he sees something that just may solve his insomniac sheep problem. Soft fuzzy blankets--on sale! Anything for a good night's sleep, Simpson figures, and he brings the blankies home.

And it works--for "each cuddly lamb ... and ewe and ram."

How Farmer Simpson pulls the wool over his sheep's eyes at last is the rhyming plot of Bruce Arant's new sheepy-time tale, Simpson's Sheep Won't Go To Sleep! (Peter Pauper Press, 2013). Arant's verses are as lively as his  wide-awake flock, and the contrast of the sheep with their wide-eyed insomnia and the droopy-lidded farmer tell the tale with great good humor.  School Library Journal says "Parents will sympathize with Farmer Simpson, and children will totally understand where the sheep are coming from. Great fun for everyone!"

Sums of Sheep? Lots of Lambs by Laura Numeroff

LAMBS IN A COAT...
LAMBS ON A BOAT.

Author Laura Numeroff and artist Lynn Munsinger are up to their old tricks, producing succinct but inviting text and tres charmant illustrations of appealing little animals inviting us in for a jolly time.

In this prolific pair's latest Lots of Lambs (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), youngsters are enticed to enter for a “touchy-feely, flap and fun” experience as they search for little lambs everywhere. Numeroff and Munsinger also offer wheels to turn to alter the landscape, as when the seagoing lambs get to see a changing variety of fish–flying fish in the air and long, finny fish in the water--or assorted fold-outs as when the “coat” in question opens down the line of buttons in front to reveal four lambs, arranged pyramid-style giggling with glee under that overcoat.

There are lambs behind big beach umbrellas at the seashore, and a single lamb all alone behind a bush. There are lots of lamb thespians ready to perform when the stage curtains open, and as a timely nighty-night treat on the last page, three sleepy lambs concealed underneath their quilted coverlet, ready for a snooze. Numeroff and Munsinger, co-creators of the ever-popular If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give...) and companion books, are quality collaborators and this little board book looks to be one of their best joint ventures for the very young.

Fitting Knitting! Little Lamb, Have You Any Wool? by Isabel Martins

"Little Lamb, little lamb
have you any wool?

My fingers are as icy as little icicles.
My toes are just like little snowballs."

Who is warm and snug in winter? A woolly lamb, of course!

This boy has knitting needles and chilly fingers and toes.

His sheep has fine coat of fleece.

It seems somebody is about to be shorn.

"Little friend, if you're that cold,
I will let you take my wool and
you can knit it all up."

With that altruistic offer, our little lad is keen to get knitting, and once the deal is done, it's not long before a cozy cap, a fleecy scarf, and a cuddly coat spiral from his nimble needles. He's as toasty as a toad in a hole.

But shearer's remorse soon sets in. Now he notices that his lamb looks a little chilly in the frosty breezes.

What to do? Well, he's got yards of yarn and nifty knitting knowledge, and soon boy and sheep are both sporting the latest in woolen winter wear!

Isabel Martins' just published Little Lamb, Have You Any Wool? (Owlkids Books, 2012), cheerily illustrated by Yara Kono, is a fanciful look at woolen goods in her freeform take-off on the well-known nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep," with her apt adaptation of the old adage, revised to read "shear and share alike." Ranch-raised or sheep-smart kids may be moved to point out that sheep are always sheared in spring and have put on plenty of wool by the following fall, which gives the teacher or adult reader an opening for a short disposition on literary license here! Realities of the wool industry aside, this book is an imaginative way to think about how we get our warm winter duds and whom we ought to thank for them. Pair this one with Tomie de Paola's classic tale of woolmongering, Charlie Needs a Cloak for some storytime fun with fleece.

Don't Count on It! No Sleep for the Sheep by Karen Beaumont

In the big red barn on the farm, on the farm, in the big red barn on the farm... A sheep fell asleep in the big red barn, in the big red barn on the farm.

Sheep is ready to sleep, teddy bear under his arm, and he is not counting on helping anyone else get to sleep tonight. Settled down in the fresh hay in a comfy stall, with only by a tiny yellow chick for a roommate, sheep is already snoring away soundly when he is disturbed by a dissonant sound that blasts him out of his somnolent state:

Then there came a loud QUACK at the door, at the door, and the sheep couldn't sleep any more.

Disgruntled, the sheep staggers sleepily to the door and escorts the duck to the stall with whispered instructions:

"Go to sleep" said the sheep, to the duck at the door. "And please don't QUACK any more!"

Even the teddy bear looks grumpy as the disheveled sheep, the duck, and the chick resettle themselves in the stall for what sheep obviously hopes will at last be undisturbed slumber. But in the best tradition of the venerable cumulative tale, this dream is not to be. Sheep is constantly roused from his snores by a succession of supposedly sleepless animals--a goat, pig, a cow, and as horse--who Baa!, Oink!, Moo!, and Neigh! their way in to seek a snooze with Sheep in the increasingly snugger stall, with Chick constantly forced to clamber atop the pile to avoid being squashed. With the huge horse hogging half the sleeping space, there is definitely no room in the stable!

"Shhhh! Not a peep! Go to sleep!" said the sheep.

But there's ONE more farm animal who hasn't yet gotten the message, whose identity is hinted at by the light of dawn glimpsed through the window as the heap of animals finally drifts off to sleep together:

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!"

In Karen Beaumont's forthcoming No Sleep for the Sheep! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), sheep attempts to sleep in but chick gets the last word, (a PEEP!), in a inventive reworking of the traditional always-room-for-one-more premise. As always, Beaumont's verses are so rhythmical that young listeners will start joining in on the irresistible repetition as sheep issues his orders to each animal in turn.

But Beaumont's text virtually takes off when paired with Jackie Urbanovic's comic brown pencil and watercolor illustrations, which add immeasurably to the effect. Even the teddy, eyes always shut, has a role. and sheep's facial expressions are priceless as he is blasted from his slumbers by the pig and hugely hugged by the horse. Kids will gleefully pick up on the clever visual device by which Urbanovic telegraphs the identity of each approaching midnight visitor to the barn, even as each time sheep settles down to what he believes will finally be a good night's sleep. Both Beaumont (I Like Myself!, and I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards))) and Jackie Urbanovic (Duck at the Door and sequels) are no strangers to best-sellerdom, and their No Sleep for the Sheep! looks like it's got all the right stuff to keep its readers wide awake and calling for more from this delightful duo!

Sheep in Space: Sheep Blast Off by Nancy Shaw

Sheep see a shape in the mist by a tree.
Something has landed. What can it be?

Five befuddled sheep just have to investigate the strange object which has descended into their grazing grounds. Standing piggyback (or, um, sheep-a-back) to peer through the portholes and hauling down the EXIT door, the woolly ones gawk and then clamber inside the bright yellow space ship with ALFALFA (spelled backwards) stenciled on the side.

Once inside the cramped quarters, the inquisitive sheep start pulling levers, pressing buttons, and turning knobs right and left, to the consternation of a bug-eyed greenish alien seen peeping from a passageway. Suddenly, unforeseen consequences follow:

They grab a knob. It seals a door.
Lights come on. Engines roar.

The sheep perform their tasks rather well considering their amateur astronaut status, but when they tinker with the controls, things go wrong fast.

Lights flash. Computers beep.
Blaring sirens scare the sheep.

Alien to the rescue! The hidden extraterrestrial puts the sheep into sweet slumber with his ray gun and, taking the controls, brings the spaceship back to its dock among the daisies. Reunited with their pilot, the team of exploring aliens gently carry the sheep asleep, each wrapped in a fuzzy pink blanket, to their place under a tree, return to their craft, and lift off in a burst of flame as the astonished sheep wake and watch.

Home at last.
Rocket sheep have had a blast!

Nancy Shaw's latest sheep saga, Sheep Blast Off!, has the same ewe-nique appeal as her much-loved earlier stories, Sheep in a Jeep, Sheep Take a Hike, Sheep in a Shop and Sheep on a Ship (Sandpiper Houghton Mifflin Books). Margot Apple's soft colored pencil illustrations and Shaw's simple rhyming text make these great books for preschoolers and for beginning readers alike.

EWE-nique Disguise: The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger

The comic team of Lester and Munsinger are back with a tale of the wild and the woolly, starring a ewe-nique ewe who seems to have been born to be an, um, clothes horse.

Ewetopia is a young ewe who just is not comfortable in her basic wool. But trying out one outrageous outfit after another gets her no notice from the flock. The rams--Rambunctious, Ramshackle, and Ramplestiltskin-- say bl-a-a-h, and the ewes--Ewecalyptus, Ewetensil, and Heyewe--just say b-a-a-a!

Finally, though, for the grand Woolyone's Costume Ball, Ewetopia hits upon the most ewe-nique costume of all--that of a wily wolf.

This was the one! Ewereka!

She loved the warmth of the fur. The shine of the fangs. And especially the way the long-clawed paws swung attractively when she walked. Everyone would notice her now!

Just as Ewetopia begins to wonder why the woolly dancers aren't thrilled with the sight of a sheep in wolf's clothing in the midst of their merrymaking, a handsome figure enters the ballroom:

A handsome stranger, a charming sheepish grin, and wool so lovely, it looked fake.

It looks fake because it is, for beneath the fulsome fleece, Ewetopia realizes, is concealed--a real wolf, a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing.

But at last, someone notices her costume. "Mother!" exclaims the wolf, mistaking Ewetopia for his mom. "I thought you were away on a lamb hunt!"

Soon the wolf rips off his disguise, ready to begin his own lamb hunt! Thinking fast, Ewetopia comes up with a couple of "motherly" requests guaranteed to get rid of any young wolf in a hurry!

"First, my son," she growls, "you must take a bath, clean your claws, and brush your fangs."

The wolf moaned, "Aw, Maaaaaaa!"

"After that you must do your homework, all of it," Ewetopia added gruffly.

"Then, sonny boy, you must pick up your room."

With that threat hanging over his head, the wolf is out of there in two shakes of a sheep's tail.

And Ewetopia is at last the bellwether of the ball!

In The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger prove that they can still charm a chuckle out of the picture book set with this punny story of an un-ewesual ewe. Munsinger's costumed ballgoers, dressed as Elvis imitators, bikers, Easter Bunnies, caped crusaders, and Santas, are appropriately appreciative as Ewetopia ewe-tilizes her wit to free their fleeces. It's a good-time romp is the jolly spirit of this team's earlier hits, Hooway for Wodney Wat and Tacky the Penguin (Sandpiper Books).