Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 02/01/2019 PreS-Gr 2—When the bunnies of Pickle Lake apartments learn that rats have moved in downstairs, they set off on a rollicking trek down to greet them, gathering the rest of their animal neighbors along the way. McIntyre uses cumulative repetition and fun vocabulary to describe the movement of the animals as they hop and trot down the steps with increasing anxiety that rats are dirty and messy neighbors. The illustrations and arrangement of the text becomes increasingly crowded and chaotic, until reaching the unexpectedly tidy and welcoming apartment of the rats, Bertram and Natasha. The animals are depicted in vivid colors with expressive faces, and each character has a distinctive personality. The varied size and placement of text across the pages as well as the use of space and lines within the illustration serve to underpin the movement of the story. The cartoonish style uses saturated colors and contains humorous flourishes as the family of bunnies make mischief throughout the tale which culminates with an important lesson on making hasty generalizations about groups of people and animals. VERDICT The humor and fun vocabulary, as well as the engaging illustrations make this a storytime hit that may also be enjoyed independently.—Kelly Topita, Anne Arundel County Public Library, MD - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/01/2019 McIntyre takes a good-natured jab at the invidious practice of prejudging strangers. Thrilled to hear that rats have moved into a first-floor apartment, five bunny sibs playing on the roof scamper downstairs to meet them. On the way, they gather the building’s animal residents, from Vern (a sheep) and Walter and Matilda (pigs) to Granny Goat. By the time all get to the bottom, though, the grown-ups have decided that, since rats are known to be smelly, messy thieves likely to bury everyone in rat poop, the new arrivals have to go! In the cartoon illustrations, the downstairs trip escalates to a wild, uncontrolled tumble, dismal expectations expressed in larger and larger type. After all the buildup, said expectations fizzle after a bunny’s timid knock brings Bertram and Natasha, a refined, dapper rat couple, to the door with a friendly invitation. Polite partings lead to a final wordless view of the rats’ doormat, covered with small gifts. Even younger readers will understand how easily relations might have gotten off on the wrong paw. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.