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.

Stranger Danger? Click, Clack, Moo I Love You! by Doreen Cronin

IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY ON THE FARM.

But for the head honcho, Farmer Brown, it's first things first. His wheelbarrow, shovel, fork, and hay bales await him early in the morning, keeping the pigs clean (as if!) and the donkey happy. And to keep everyone safe from marauding foxes, he mends the fences.

Farmer Brown does his work, while Little Duck takes charge of the party planning:

SHE TIED BALLOONS TO ... EVERYTHING! SHE HUNG STREAMERS TO... EVERYTHING!

And it's heavy on the paint, glitter and glue with piles of Valentines for everyone on the farm. Little Duck looks like a walking Valentine herself, with paint and glitter all over. But soon Farmer Brown's work and the festive preparations are done, and it's time to PAR-TY!

Little Duck, the hostess with the mostest, meets the guests at the door with Valentines for everyone. Someone cranks up some hoedown music, while the fashionably late sheep head straight for the chips and salsa. The pigs do the porcine polka and the poultry begin to boogie down doin' that chicken dance. Even the barn mice do the hustle. Then the cows show up, bringing a banner touting their alternative shindig.

JOIN US AT THE SECOND ANNUAL DIVINE BOVINE BALL.
FORMAL ATTIRE, PLEASE!

Everybody is busy doin' their own thing. The party is cookin' and rustic fiddle music floats out of the barn and across the starry fields.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE, AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, LITTLE FOX HEARD THE MUSIC. SHE CALLED: YIP, YIP, YIP!

NOBODY ANSWERED. BUT THERE WAS A TRAIL OF VALENTINES TO FOLLOW.

Now, the guests don't exactly welcome a party-crashing fox, not even one with a Valentine trailing from her tail. The chickens freeze in mid-flap. The pigs' trotters stop in their tracks. The sheep cease in mid-munch. And all the mice hustle for their holes, hoping not to become fox hors 'd'oeuvres.

It's an awkward fox-in-the-hen-house moment.

But Little Duck has one handmade Valentine left, and as she graciously hands it to Little Fox with a warm welcome, the party returns to full swing, with everyone trying out the fox trot!

EVERYBODY DANCES WITH EVERYBODY UNTIL...

THE COWS CAME HOME!

It's quite a mixer at the Valentine's Day dance down on the farm, in Doreen Cronin's newest in her beloved bucolic series, Click, Clack, Moo I Love You! (A Click, Clack Book) (Atheneum, 2017). Cronin's sweet story welcomes the spirit of St. Valentine's Day with warmth and humor, and Betsy Lewin's rustic watercolor illustrations of farm critters making merry are as cute and charming as ever. School Library Journal says, "The economical text maximizes impact while giving the illustrations plenty of space to tell the story," and Publishers Weekly adds, "Cronin subtly passes along some sage advice: the best parties have an element of the unexpected."

Cronin and Lewin are, of course, the creators of the top-selling series which began with Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (A Click, Clack Book) (read reviews here.)

Sleep! Sweet Sleep: Click, Clack, Good Night by Doreen Cronin

IT WAS NIGHTTIME ON THE FARM. EVERYONE WAS TIRED.

Farmer Brown was drowsing in his chair. The cows were weary. The sheep were sleepy. The chickens were snoozy. Everyone was ready to hit the hay (real or metaphorical), for the night. Everyone is ready, except. . . one.

DUCK IS NOT READY FOR BED.

Farmer Brown sings some lullabies. He reads Duck a story and discusses the editorials in the newspaper, turns on the white noise, puts on a shadow puppet show on the wall, turns off the light, and is soon sound asleep.

DUCK IN THE DARK IS WIDE AWAKE.

Duck tries to curl up with the cows, but the cow stalls are too crowded. He tries stretching out with the sheep, but their wool is too soft. The nightlight in the chicken coop is too bright. Duck goes outside the barn, where the moonlight is just right and settles down by the pond.

"BA BURP! BA BURP!"

"CHIT CHAT CHITTER! CHI CHAT CHITTER!"

The frogs in the pond and the bats in the tree above it are wide awake, and now so is Duck.

Duck relocates his nocturnal activities to the farmhouse. He knows where Farmer Brown keeps the sandwich makin's and the hot sauce, so he fixes himself a cheese on whole wheat with a spicy spritz for a midnight snack. Now that his stomach is full, Duck begins to think about turning in. And he knows just the right place.

FARMER BROWN'S MATTRESS IS FIRM, HIS PAJAMAS ARE SOFT, AND DUCK CLOSES HIS EYES AT LAST.

Everyone on the farm, even Duck, is now deep in dreamland--except for Farmer Brown, in the Caldecott-Award winning Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Good Night (A Click Clack Book) (Atheneum Books, 2020). Winner of the Caldecott Award for the first book in this series, Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type, illustrator Betsy Lewin's endearingly droll farm animals and long-suffering Farmer Brown are in good form in this tenth book in the series starring the quirky insomniac quacker, Duck.

Boasts Kirkus Reviews, "Bucolic bedtime done right."

For more down-on-the-farm fun by Cronin, Lewin, and Co., see all my reviews here

Peep, Peep, Peep... Please Sleep! Click, Clack, Peep! by Doreen Cronin

Down on the Brown farm, there is spring anticipation in the air. The duck egg Farmer Brown ordered has come and it's about to hatch. The farm animals all wait with baited breath!

NOT A MOO!

NOT A CLUCK!

NOT AN OINK!

THEN... A CRACK!

First a crack, then a tiny wing, then a webbed foot, and finally, with a CRAA-AACK!, there's Baby Duck, with a helmet of shell still on her head!

Baby Duck is proud to be there, and she greets all the waiting animals.

"PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!"

This duckling has a healthy set of lungs and endless enthusiasm for communication. After a few hundred peeps, the farm animals are yawning and ready to settle down for the night. Farmer Brown is ready to turn in and call it a day, too. But this spring peeper is only just getting started.

"PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!
PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!
PEEP, PEEP, PEEP"

It looks like this newborn is prepared to make it an all-nighter. The bleary-eyed hens cluck a lullaby, the sheep quickly knits up a soft baby blanket, and the cows shut the barn door and lower their shades, Even the mice head for the hills, yawning all the way.

But as usual, it's Duck to the rescue, He cranks up Farmer's noisy but trusty tractor and drives back and forth around the field, with Baby Duck in his blankie on board.

Back and forth, to a PEEP, PEEP, PEEP! Around again. PEEP! PEEP! Even the tractor looks tired, as once more, Duck retraces his route, and Farmer Brown cringes in his bed, pillow over his head.

"PEEP.... SLEEP!

At last, there's not a peep and all get their sleep, in Doreen Cronin's latest in her fine and funny farm critter series, Click, Clack, Peep! (Atheneum Books, 2015). Kids will love to put their PEEPS into the story when this one is read aloud, while artist Betsy Lewin's bucolic illustrations extend the text with adorable rustic silliness that can't be beat. Another big hit in this popular series (which began with the best-selling Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type from this dynamic author/illustrator duo.

Other not-to-be-missed full-size picture books in this countryside series include Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Dooby Dooby Moo Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure, and Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat.

Duck's Big Day! Click, Clack, SURPRISE! by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

IT'S A VERY BIG DAY ON THE FARM.

THE CAKE IS BAKING.

STREAMERS ARE STREAMING. MICE ARE FLOATING PAST THE WINDOW....

Mice floating past the windows? Yes, actually. It seems the mice have been assigned the task of decorating with the helium balloons for what looks to be a birthday party, and they've gotten, er, carried away with the job. Signs are posted, with strange disclaimers from "neigh"-saying deniers added in bold marker.

       YOU'RE INVITED TO

LITTLE DUCK'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!
GAMES!                              PRIZES!

PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY. (Cancelled by Donkey)

But with the mice rounded up and the balloons tied down, it's time for the party guests to get all gussied up for the occasion. Farmer Brown wears his brand-new straw hat. All the yellow ducks take a long bubble bath. A party novice, Little Duck watches and follows the lead, rub-a-dubbing in the tub, too. The sheep go for a shearing, and Little Duck gets his topknot clipped, too.

Cat gives her fur a lick, and Duck does a lick, too. The chickens take a dust bath, shimmy-shaking their tail feathers, and Little Duck shakes his tail, too. The pigs choose a mud bath, and Little Duck joins in a squishy and squashy session. Then they all walk to the party under the maple tree, where Farmer Brown is lighting the candles on his cake.

But the host and party guests are the ones are the ones to get a surprise, when the guest of honor shows up, drippy, damp with duck spit, muddy, dusty, and totally disheveled just as the gang is ready to sing Happy Birthday, Dear Little Duckie!

EEUUUWWWWW!

It's a surprise, all right, in Doreen Cronin's eleventh book in her best-selling series, Click, Clack, Surprise! (Atheneum Books, 2016). Artist Betsy Lewin carries most of the load in this continuing collaborative surprise party tale, with her humorous illustrations fleshing out this simple down-on-the farm story with clever wit and the familiar comic characters who have delighted youngsters for a couple of decades. Says School Library Journal, "Readers are likely to get caught up in the onomatopoetic fun and may be inspired by Lewin's energetic watercolors to wiggle, shake, and strut along with the animals."

Cronin and Lewin's first best-seller together was Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and since that time have turned out many kid-pleasing stories of Farmer Brown and friends (see more reviews here).

Back to School! Click, Clack, Quack to School by Doreen Cronin

Farmer Brown's got MAIL, and Duck delivers the letter, some of it written in orange crayon.

Dear Farmer Brown,

Please be our guest at our Farm Day lunch tomorrow.

Bring the animals, too!

Love,
Dinkelmeyer Elementary School
P.S. What's your favorite color?
P.P.S.: How old are you?P.P.P.S.: We have a turtle.

It's been quite a while since Farmer Brown has been to school. He's honored, and he wants his farm animals to make a good impression.

But when he tells them about their visit, they begin to cluck, and moo, and oink excitedly. Farmer Brown lectures his livestock sternly.

"School is very serious," he tells his hens. "No CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCKING!"

"School is very calm," he tells the cows. "No STOMPING, CLOMPING, AND MOOING."

"School is very quiet," he tells the pigs. "No HOOTING, HOLLERING, OR OINKING."

Now it is time to lay down the law to Duck, who is always up to something. But Farmer Brown finds her meditating solo, seated on her yoga cushion, eyes closed, breathing slowly in and out. She doesn't register any reaction to his words, but he warns her anyway.

"Try not to be--Ducky,"

With his critters properly chastised, the next morning Farmer Brown loads his subdued livestock up in his truck and drives them to the elementary school. Strangely, when they arrive at Dinkelmeyer Elementary, there are no signs of a gala Farm Day celebration under way in the schoolyard. But at least his charges are following the rules. No one is mooey, clucky, or oinky, and Duck still seems to be concentrating exclusively on her deep breathing. The whole building is just as a school should be-- quiet, calm, and serious.

And then the bell rings.

Suddenly the schoolyard explodes with noisy energy as the kids run outside for recess....

Squeaking and squealing...

Zooming and zigging....

And Farmer Brown's animals quickly revert to type and join the kids in their free-for-all of chattering and yelling. The cows are mooey, stomping and clomping, the pigs are oinky, wallowing and hollering, and the chickens are cluckey, snapping and clapping. It seems the critters fit right in with the kids.

But where is Duck?

Duck is being--Ducky, seated in the school office at the Principal's desk, perhaps writing some new school rules with an orange crayon:

Be kind. Be helpful. Be honest. Be safe.

Respect one another, and don't eat the paste.

For a quick review of school rules, Doreen Cronin's new beginner reading story, Click, Clack, Quack to School! (A Click Clack Book) (Atheneum, 2018) is just what the teacher ordered. Duck is up to her old tricks, this time with a little forgery and finagling, and illustrator Betsy Lewin's unique and quirky characters are more charming than ever, if possible. For more take-your-critters-to-school fun, pair this one with Cynthia Rylant's and Arthur Howard's delightful Mr. Putter and Tabby Ring the Bell (see review here).

Bah! Halloween Humbug! Click, Clack, Boo! A Tasty Treat by Doreen Cronin

FARMER BROWN DID NOT LIKE HALLOWEEN.

WITCHES GAVE HIM NIGHTMARES.

But do the merry pranksters out in the barnyard give a marshmallow peanut? No, they do not.

Farmer Brown may pull the shades, hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on his locked front door, put on his fuzzy, footy PJs, and douse all the lights, but out in the barn the cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens are all set to par-tay in the hay! Cow skeletons and princess pigs cavort and prance, sheep sprout witches' hats, and the chickens--are those the hens under those ghostly shrouds?

Snug under his quilt, Farmer Brown can't help hearing the racket being raised in the barn--and the leafy footfalls near the house, followed by  a tap, tap, tapping at his door. A furtive peek under the shade shows a shadowy, cloaked figure, haunting the house from under a dark tree outside. Then there is an even stranger sound.

"QUACK, QUACK, QUACKLE."

QUACKLE?

With all this suspicious activity, what's a conscientious farmer to do?

As all readers will have guessed by now, Dracula Duck will see to it that Farmer Brown will soon be raising the roof out in the barn with his critter tricksters in this Halloween treat, Doreen Cronin's and Betsy Lewin's latest, Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat (Atheneum Books, 2013). Cronin's verses are still dressed with her characteristic verve and rhythm, and Betsy Lewin's illustrations (see her chickens comically draped as ghosts) glow with Halloween humor like a smiling Jack-o'-lantern. That big ole' harvest moon lights the scene, done up in a midnight blue background with plenty of Halloween orange accents, while the pigs scarf up candy corn at liberty, the sheep boogie down, and everybody gets a prize. It's a happy holiday treat for fans of Cronin and Lewin's barnyard bunch.

Other books in this rowdy rural series include the best-selling Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure, (see my review here) and Dooby Dooby Moo, to name but a few.

Steppin' Up! Mama's Work Shoes by Caron Levis

Perry knew all of Mama's shoes.

Mama has fuzzy swushy shoes for around the house, and zippy shoes for playing at the park. She has flip-flops for sunny beach days and yellow stump-stump boots for rainy days.

But one day Mama comes home with new shoes--tall shoes that click and clack across the floor.

"Today, we are starting a new routine." said Mama.

Perry is not happy. "New routine" means click-clack shoes for Mama, two lunch bags, one for each of them, and being dropped off at their friend Nan's house while Mama goes to a place called Work.

Perry likes Nan, but she likes it more when Mama is there, too. Mama reminds her that she'll be back, and they can say what they always say at Nan's door.

"KNOCK KNOCK!

Cookoo Clock!

But the day at Nan's without Mama is not much fun. Mama finally comes and they walk back to their house, Mama's shoes click-clacking all the way. Despite Mama's reminder that her work shoes are also her coming-back shoes, that night Perry decides the shoes are the problem. She hides the click-clack shoes, and just to make sure, she hides ALL of Mama's shoes, too.

But Mama finds her work shoes and wears them again, as Perry sadly drags her feet on the way to Nan's again. But this time, she manages to have some fun with Nan. They dance the shimmy, and they are giggling over a tea party when Perry hears a KNOCK KNOCK! at the door. And that night Mama puts on her shushy shoes and they do everything they like together, including wearing no-shoes feet that go...

Tickle-tickle--together.

Caron Levis' brand-new Mama's Work Shoes (Abrams Books, 2019) is a bit of bibliotherapy for older toddlers and preschoolers experiencing their first day-long separation from their mothers, a time that creates some angst in child--and mother--and author Levis' story softens the anxiety without ignoring the very real sadness that such separation engenders. Levis' narration doesn't skip too lightly over the distress, while keeping the reassuring message and the secondary theme that each child has her or his part to play in their family's well-being. Artist Vanessa Brantley-Newton's sensitive but humorous illustrations support the leitmotif gently and sweetly. "Charming... dynamic, and colorful," says Kirkus.

CHIMNEY HAZARD! Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

SNOW IS FALLING.

LIGHTS TWINKLE.

A FEW CREATURES ARE STIRRING.

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE.

And there's a portentious jingle in the air over at the old Brown place. Farmer Brown is hanging stockings--labeled SHEEP, one COWS, PIGS, CHICKENS, and even one for MICE. The halls are decked and the mice are pleased as they peep from their holes, miming a shhhhhhhh! to Mr. Brown.

Duck, disguised as a lineman for the county, is high atop a utility pole, tool belt and all, watching for a certain airborne visitor, and at the sounding of jingling bells, he shoots down a zipline to Farmer Brown's snow-topped chimney. Donning his handy night vision goggles, he surveys the sky and spots a sleigh approaching in the distance.

HO! HO! HO!

Duck ducks down the chimney, taking the the short route to alert Farmer Brown. But...

UH-OH!

Duck is STUCK!

This is embarrassing! Santa's sleigh and reindeer are silhouetted against the full moon, and the watching farm animals roll into action.

THE COWS COME UP TO UNSTICK DUCK.

HO! HO! HO!

UH-OH!

This is an emergency! The pigs give it a try, but they lodge in the chimney. The chickens, goats, cat, dog, and mice come to help, but they all wind up stuck in the now over-stuffed smokestack!

OH, NO!

This is a job for a professional! Santa Claus never gets stuck in chimneys, and in clouds of soot, Duck and his pals pop out of Farmer Brown's chimney just ahead of St. Nick, in Doreen Cronin's jolly tale of Farmer Brown's chimney, Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! (Atheneum Books, 2015). Betsy Lewin's classic comic farm animals are a holiday gift in themselves, Duck in Santa hat and night-sight glasses, with similarly attired keyboarding chickens following suit, are just silly enough to have young readers in stitches, and Farmer Brown, relaxing in his long, red, fur-trimmed dressing gown throwing up the window sash to see Santa's approach, provides just the right touch of merry measure for pre-Christmas Eve reading.

"Cronin and Lewin make this slapstick story all their own, leaving readers... with a big dose of holiday cheer," says School Library Journal.

And A Ducky New Year! A Very Quacky Christmas by Francis Watts

SAMANTHA DUCK WAS GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS. "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS," SHE SANG, AS SHE WRAPPED TINSEL AROUND THE REEDS.

Her very sensible friend Sebastian the turtle was bemused.

"CHRISTMAS IS NOT FOR ANIMALS," HE OBSERVED.

But Samantha is not deterred by his nay-saying. Soon there are ornamnents hanging on most of the trees. She hangs her Christmas stocking. She informs Sebastian that she is going to give presents to animals all over the world! Sebastian repeats his injunction that animals don't do Christmas.

"CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT GIVING AND SHARING, ISN'T IT?

AND ANIMALS LIKE TO GIVE AND SHARE, DON'T THEY?" ASKED SAMANTHA.

Sebastian reluctantly agrees. Well, then, that's settled. Samantha suggests that Sebastian has to help her make and deliver all those gifts.

It's a case of Sense and Sensibility. Sebastian has huge doubts, but Samantha feels that giving gifts around the world is the thing to do and do-able, besides. And when the animals of the farm hear Samantha's idea, they pitch right in. The sheep give wool and Samanatha (and Sebastian) knit socks and scarves. The chickens lay lots of eggs and Samantha makes Christmas goodies. The cows donate daisies from their pasture and Samantha and Sebastian make dozens and dozens of daisy chains. Donkey offers his cart to deliver the gifts and all pitch in to load the gifts into his wagon. But Sebastian points out an apparent delivery problem.

"WE'LL MAKE A BIG RUN, SAMANTHA SUGGESTED, "AND I'LL FLAP MY WINGS AND WE'LL FLY."

"ABSURD!" SAID SEBASTIAN. "IT'LL NEVER WORK!"

Samantha flaps furiously, but the lift-off fails twice. Perhaps Sebastian was right from the beginning, she thinks sadly.

"NO, YOU WERE RIGHT!" SAID SEBASTIAN. "CHRISTMAS IS FOR ANIMALS. LET'S GIVE IT ONE MORE TRY."

And before the evening star has risen to its meridian, the cart rises in the sky and the two stand-in Santas are on the way to bring Christmas to animals all over the world....

And it's a quacky New Year" all around as well, in Frances Watts' plucky, ducky story, A Very Quacky Christmas (Doubleday Books). Author Watts is assisted by the award-winning Aussie illustrator Ann James' fine line drawings that puts the emphasis on the two benefactors' good intentions. Says School Library Journal, "Giving and sharing never had a better advertisement than this sweet farm story."

Share this one with Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin's wacky, quacky Christmas farm yarn with another jolly substitute Santa Duck, Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! (A Click Clack Book). (See my review here.)

Serial Sleepover! Go Sleep in Your Own Bed! by Candace Fleming

SNUGGLED IN. SNUGGLED DOWN.

BEDTIME ON THE FARM.

Inside the farmhouse a girl snuggles under her quilt, sleepily nodding over her book under the yellow light of her bedside lamp. Outside her window the sky is deep blue, and the first stars are winking on.

Is everyone in bed? Not quite.

Pig is waddley-slogging toward his lovely mucky sty, only to find something unexpected.

Cow is cozily curled up inside, a contented smile on her face.

"GET UP!" PIG SQUEALED.

"GO SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED."

"OH, HAYSTACKS!" COMPLAINED COW.

Reluctantly, Cow mooooves, her mucky hooves clomping to the barn where she knells down into her own stall.

"BWACK!"

Cow finds a chicken already roosting in her stall and grumpily gives Hen her walking papers!

"GO SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED!"

Unhappily, Hen flaps off to settle her feathers down in the chicken coop. But for some reason, Hen doesn't quite fit. Someone else is snoozing in her straw. It's Horse! Oh, Fuss and Feathers! Squawking and pecking, Hen heads Horse out the door and toward the barn.

Horse plods off to the stable, yawning drowsily. But he finds Sheep snoozing in his spot, and orders her to schlep herself off to the sheep pen, where Sheep finds Dog fast asleep, snoring away in her spot with the flock.

"OH BAAAH-THER!"

Sheep boots Dog out. Dog pads dejectedly off toward the kennel, but it seems another sleeper has already bedded down in his doghouse.

MEEEEEOOOOOW!

Drat! It's the old story of musical beds, and now Cat seems to be the odd one out as he sadly tiptoes to the darkened doorstep. But inside the farmhouse, there is someone who is looking for a furry bedfellow to share her cozy quilted bed.

"IT'S BEDTIME ON THE FARM!"

Candace Fleming's latest, Go Sleep in Your Own Bed (Shwartz and Wade, 2017), is a cumulative critter story with a "Go sleep in your own bed" refrain that encourages youngsters to chime in, one that has the feel of a homey folk story. Fleming adds clever dialog that makes for skilled wordplay with alliteration and puns in the inventive expletives of the would-be sleepers.

Meanwhile, in her comfy, countrified illustrations reminiscent of Betsy Lewin's celebrated artwork in Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (A Click, Clack Book), artist Lori Nichols deftly uses a nighttime palette to add a healthy helping of humor with her comic critters misappropriating each other's beds and brings the story to a satisfying full circle with everyone right where they ought to be--and with girl and cat asleep together under the light of the now-risen moon at her window. A sweetly soothing ending makes for a classic addition to the bedtime library.

For the Love of Words: A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Fay Gordon

Sing a song for Gwendolyn Brooks.
Sing it loud--a Chicago blues.

Chicago in the 1920s was not the typical place for a poet--not a place to wander lonely as a cloud, not a place where hosts of daffodils delight the eye. It was smoky and noisy and the streets were shadowed by the elevated train tracks. Not many flowers bloomed.

But Gwendolyn Brooks was a poet. Perhaps she didn't know it when she bought dime store notebooks and started to write in them. At first she didn't love her words.

She digs beneath the snowball bush,
And buries her poems in a backyard grave.

And once, when she wrote a poem for school, the teacher didn't believe it was her work. She called it plagiarism. But Gwendolyn's mother put on her hat and gloves and marched her precocious daughter down to the school. She confronted the teacher and told the teacher that her daughter "writes with ease," and to prove it, she had Gwendolyn sit down and write a poem called "Forgive and Forget" on the spot:

If others neglect you, forget: do not sigh.
For, after all, they'll select you in times by and by.

If their taunts cut and hurt you, they are sure to regret.
And if in time they desert you, forgive and forget.

And with the help of both parents'support and encouragement, Gwendolyn keeps on writing, She spends time at the South Side Center and meets grown-up poets who read famous sonnets and Modernist poets with her, and Gwendolyn submits her best work to magazines--and some are accepted and printed! She goes to college and learns about many great poets; she marries and has a son and still keeps on writing and rewriting her poetry and sending it off to be printed. The click-clack of the El trains blend with the steady click-clack of her typewriter.

And then one day she wins a prize--The Pulitzer Prize!

Alice Fay Duncan's just published A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks (People Who Shaped Our World) (Sterling Children's Books, 2019) tells for young readers the story of how Gwendolyn Brooks became the first Black writer to win a Pulitzer prize and become Poet Laureate of the United States.

Mr. Brooks and Mrs. Brooks
Planted love and watered it.

In a recommended first purchase for school and public libraries for Black History and Women's History reading in February and March, author Gordon provides a useful appendix with author's note, a timeline of Brooks' life, suggested readings, and a bibliography for young report writers. Artist Xia Gordon adds rosy brown illustrations that heighten the the author's metaphor of a life that flowered into a legacy of poetry.

Gettin' Down and Dirty! Bloom by Doreen Cronin

ONCE UPON A TIME
IN A BEAUTIFUL GLASS KINGDOM
THERE LIVED AN UNUSUAL FAIRY NAMED BLOOM.

HER BOOTS WERE CAKED WITH MUD. BEETLES RESTED IN HER HAIR.

BLOOM'S MAGIC COULD SPIN WIND INTO GLASS, TURN WEEDS INTO BLOSSOMS, AND GROW TRICKLES OF RAINWATER INTO RACING RIVERS.

That was all well and good with the King and Queen and their snooty court, but Bloom's untidy appearance and sloppy working environment--messy buckets of mud leaving untidy trails about the landscape--did not sit well within the royals's lovely crystal city. Mud here and there definitely spoiled the upscale ambiance.

AS THE YEARS PASSED AND THE KINGDOM BECAME LARGER AND SHINIER, THE PEOPLE CARED LESS AND LESS ABOUT BLOOM'S MAGIC AND NOTICED ONLY THE MESS.

Apparently the rulers of the crystal kingdom were unfamiliar with the old proverb that said, "To make an omelet, you must first break some eggs!"

There is a palace revolt and poor Bloom, mess and all, is banished from the crystal city and flees into the forest, where she finds a happy place to continue her magic.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones! And kings and queens who live in glass castles shouldn't cast aspersions on fairies, either. Fairies can have dirty tricks up their gossamer sleeves. Slowly the city loses its pristine sparkle. The glass castle acquires ghastly cracks. The river dries up, and with it the beautiful flowers and trees that had graced the grounds.

THE CASTLE WAS HELD TOGETHER BY DUCT TAPE, GLUE, AND PEASANTS.

At first the King goes a progress into the forest to find Bloom, but is put off by her proffered bucket of mud. So he sends Genevieve, a self-effacing chambermaid whose only task is polishing the Queen's crystal sugar spoon, whom he hopes will have more luck. Bloom is bemused and queries why such a small and delicate emissary has been sent to her for help.

"BECAUSE I AM ORDINARY!" ANSWERED GENEVIEVE.

Her answer pleases the down-to-earth fairy, and Bloom sets to work, teaching Genevieve the lost art of molding her beloved mud into sturdy bricks, and together they build a strong and beautiful house in the forest. The royals are impressed with what a messy fairy and an un-ordinary girl can do, and they are invited back to the kingdom to teach the subjects to get down and dirty, building a solid city of bricks and learning the value of toil in the soil.

In a departure from her popular stories of comical animals, Doreen Cronin's latest, Bloom (Atheneum Books, 2016) is a parable of appearance vs. reality, with a lesson in civic responsibility starring two extra-ordinary girls. Caldecott winner David Small contributes comic light and airy-as-a-fairy watercolor illustrations, with a freckle-faced, red-haired heroine of a fairy who teaches a lesson in sensible cooperation with a bright grin, assisted by a design that uses assorted fonts, even Gothic capitals, to add a spritely lift to this modern fairy story. Publisher's Weekly gives Cronin's newest a starred review, calling it a "...smart, subversive fairy tale."

Cronin's works include the best-selling series begun with Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, and David Small's Caldecott honors include So You Want to Be President?, The Gardener (Caldecott Honor Award), and One Cool Friend. (See review here).

Quackery: Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure by Doreen Cronin

It's almost time for the annual Corn Festival.

Farmer Brown is very excited. This year he's making a Statue of Liberty corn maze.

He's going to need help to get everything ready on time.

Farmer Brown pores over his reference book on corn mazes, sharpens his pencil, and and pulls together his art supplies, sketch book, graph paper, and his mower, ready to do the intellectual heavy lifting for this project. For the other kind of work, he calls on his barnyard crew. At first the chickens are not excited about fencing the corn field, but when Brown, um, eggs them on by letting them use his hammers, they get busy--Cluck Whack! Cluck Whack! Cluck Whack! The cows are likewise un-moo-ved by the task of sprucing up the barn until the farmer offers them his paint and brushes. In no time the cows are hard at work--Moo Thwack! Moo Thwack! Moo Thwack!

Farmer Brown knows Duck isn't going to lift a feather to help out until he lays down the options --"no help, no more special-order, organic duck feed!" Grumbling, Duck grabs some lumber and begins to build a ticket booth--Thump! Quack! Thump Quack! Thump Quack!

The barn mice stay out of the building trades, instead taking a correspondence course in meteorology. Their observation on the atmosphere around the farm?

PARTLY SUNNY

Of course, Duck is not one to take a backseat role. Every night, after Farmer Brown parks his mower, Duck gathers his art supplies, graph paper, sketch book, night-vision goggles, glow-in-the-dark ruler, and hedge clippers, and adds his own, er, vision to the project, as the meteorological mice observe

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE DROPPING

At last the opening day of the Corn Maze Festival arrives. The chickens' fence is a mess, the side of the barn is painted with heroic-sized bovine portraits, and Duck's ticket booth is customized with peepholes for his eyes and a quacking-good hole for his bill in the front. The barn mice have a last-minute forecast for the day:

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM!

But the biggest surprise comes when Farmer Brown boards the festive hot-air balloon to view his masterpiece from the skies. Duck waddles aboard as well, and when they soar over the site, Farmer Brown's jaw drops with amazement as a vertical foldout page reveals the product of his and Duck's a-maze-ing labors--a Duck of Liberty clearly cut into the corn patch! While the disgruntled farmer contemplates the results of his work, Duck (who luckily has brought along a parachute) bails out with a hearty "Geronimo!" And as Duck precipitates into the maze, the mice make their final weather observation:

PARTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF DUCK.

Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure is the latest in the humorous adventures of Farmer Brown's barnyard buddies, which include the best-seller Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Dooby Dooby Moo, and the recently updated Duck for President.

EMR(abbits): Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin

NEWBIE IS A RESCUE BUNNY TRAINEE.

HER LAST TEST WILL BE THE TOUGHEST OF ALL.... THE FIELD TEST.

UNTIL THEN HER JOB IS TO "ALPHABETIZE " THE SPICE RACK.

Appropriately nicknamed "Newbie," the young would-be rescue bunny waits for her final trial. She is well-trained, but even a zealous young emergency rescue rabbit must have her secret self-doubts. Will she blow her big moment? Will she crack in the clutch? Will she chicken out at her first chance to show her stuff?

At last the long-awaited moment comes:

LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON, THE SECOND SHIFT PICKED UP AN URGENT DISTRESS SIGNAL.

A GIRAFFE IN TROUBLE!

And Newbie's first test is a toughie. A baby giraffe is stuck in a mudhole and a gang of hungry hyenas are on the way to the scene as well. On the way to the site Newbie receives her final bit of rescue protocol: instructions for the top-secret CODE RED! That is, if the rescue seems doomed to fail, the rescue bunnies have to make a hard call--to pull out to save themselves and leave the victim to his or her fate!

But this little giraffe is helpless in her mudhole, and Newbie can't be convinced that their best choice is to bail on the mission! However, things are looking grim: the hyenas are a group of well-disciplined and dangerous predators, and the rescue team--well, after all, they are a bunch of bunnies!

Will Newbie run away to fight another day, or will she find a way to rescue the potential victim of an impending unfortunate outcome?

Doreen Cronin's Rescue Bunnies (Balzer & Bray, 2010) takes its time building to an exciting climax as Cronin tries out a different approach in her latest picture book. Newbie is a bit of a conflicted would-be hero, but as expected she comes through in the clutch with an inventive solution to this life-or-death emergency situation.

Cronin, author of so many giggle-worthy best-sellers, including Diary of a Worm, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type (Caldecott Honor Book) and its sequels, Duck for President (New York Times Best Illustrated Books (Awards)) and such wiggle-worthy hits as Bounce and Wiggle (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)), has provided a picture book with a bit of suspense just right for that Kindergarten community-helper unit's visit to the local firehouse or EMR station.