Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 06/01/2002 Having been driven to the edge by his typing cows (Click Clack Moo, BCCB 9/00), Farmer Brown is taking a vacation, leaving his brother Bob to tend the farm. Bob diligently follows the instructions left for him, liberally providing the barn-dwellers with delivery pizza, pampering the pigs with Farmer Brown’s best bubble bath and towels, and treating the critters to the video of their choice, convinced that these are his brother’s directions. The livestock’s ill-suppressed snickering and some illustrative hints give the game away, however: they’ve replaced Farmer Brown’s instructions with their own requirements for luxurious care. This doesn’t have the effective plot development of the previous title—Bob’s just fooled, fooled, and fooled again—and the execution of the moment of discovery robs it of some of its punch (we never see what Bob thinks of it all), but it is still a bucolic tale of suave animal manipulation. While the illustrations aren’t as clear as they might be on the mechanics of note substitution, they’re exuberant indeed, their generous, freewheeling lines and splashes of color creating pigs that radiate comfort, cows whose own butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, and a poker-faced duck (astute viewers will note details reflecting the proceedings of the previous book, such as the electric blankets warming the snoozing animals). Young audiences ready to move beyond animal noises to some rollicking barnyard conspiracy will be happy to giggle along with the livestock. - Copyright 2002 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 06/01/2002 K-Gr 2-Remember that audacious duck who made an appearance in Click, Clack, Moo (S & S, 2000)? Well, he's back in this hilarious continuation of the subversive antics of Farmer Brown's animals. The farmer is off on a much-needed vacation, leaving his brother in charge with the admonition, "But keep an eye on Duck. He's trouble." Bob dutifully follows his brother's written instructions: "Tuesday night is pizza night .The hens prefer anchovies," and "Wednesday is bath day for the pigs. Remember, they have very sensitive skin," etc. Art and text cleverly play off one another. Early on, sharp-eyed viewers will observe that Duck is rarely without his pencil, thereby giving a clue as to who is really supplying the daily instructions. And Lewin's animated cartoon art with its loosely composed black line manages to capture well-meaning, but perfectly clueless Bob and that pampered barnyard crew. The scam ends when, during a check-in phone call, Farmer Brown hears "Giggle, giggle, quack" (the animals are watching The Sound of Moosic). Kids old enough to catch on will delight in seeing the clever animals pull off another fast one.-Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. - Copyright 2002 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 04/15/2002 Illustrator Lewin was awarded a Caldecott Honor for Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2000), by Cronin, a book that has become widely popular for its hilarious cartoon story of farm animals that stand up for their rights. This sequel is just as wild. Farmer Brown goes on vacation, leaving his brother Bob handwritten instructions on how to care for the animals. The trouble is that Duck intervenes. He has a pencil in his beak, so the messages instruct Bob to order in pizza for the animals, wash the pigs in a bubble bath, and rent the movie The Sound of Moosic. Eventually, poor Bob runs away. There's no real story here, just one triumphant, messy scenario after another. But kids will love the silly, subversive farce, and Lewin's big illustrations with thick black outlines do a great job of showing close-up cows and pigs happily lolling on the sofa, splashing in the bathroom, and making themselves right at home. As in Stephen Gammell's Once Upon MacDonald's Farm (2000), the mischief and the mayhem will appeal to little ones who chafe at being domesticated. - Copyright 2002 Booklist.

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