  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 10/01/2014 PreS-Gr 1—Most folks read Mother Goose to their kids because it's full of fun rhymes that encourage literacy development, but not the dad in this story. To answer his son's question about why they always read the collection of rhymes at bedtime, the father tells a fantastical anecdote about his own childhood. Trouble began when he found a rambunctious duck in the fridge. He was soon greeted by more ducks, who overran his entire house, got into his bed, ate all of his crackers, and then ordered pizza. When he called "1-800-DUCK-B-GONE," hoping for something to scare away the fowl creatures, a crate of sheep arrived. Subsequent efforts to get rid of the pests brought more, and bigger animals. They played cards, ordered more pizza, and watched TV, until the boy discovered that they couldn't read and calmed them down with Mother Goose tales, putting the creatures to sleep. A plethora of puns so bad they are funny, speech balloons asides, and the cartoonish hilarity of Mack's bold digital illustrations are sure to elicit many giggles. A wild and incredibly silly romp of a bedtime story that should appeal to fans of David Ezra Stein's Interrupting Chicken (Candlewick, 2010) or Doreen Cronin's classic Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (S. & S., 2000).—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2015 When a little boy asks his dad why they always read Mother Goose at bedtime, his father explains: it all started when he was a boy and found a duck in the fridge. That duck is just the beginning of an escalating invasion of livestock that proceeds through a multitude of ducks to a pair of sheep (to get rid of the ducks, of course), a trio of dogs (for chasing off the ducks and sheep), and a herd of cattle (to scare away dogs, sheep, and ducks), leaving young Dad with a household full of boisterous critters. Finally, in a last-ditch effort to get everyone to stop their commotion and go to sleep, the dad read selections from Mother Goose to the crowd of critters, a plan that actually worked. “So that’s why I read Mother Goose to you every night,” the dad says-and then says goodnight to the ducks, sheep, dogs, and cows still populatig the house. The zany storyline will strike a chord with both imaginative adults open to making up ridiculous bedtime stories and the kids who are only too happy for bedtime to be postponed by a goofy tale. Silly asides in dialogue bubbles (“Why did she jump over the moon?” “To get to the udder side!”) further enhance the absurd storyline. The controlled compositions keep the increased chaos nicely in check, and Mack thoughtfully provides humorous touches-such as the card-playing dogs-for the adults as well. Bring this out at bedtime but be prepared for a rambunctious reaction, and perhaps follow up with some mellow Mother Goose. JH - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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