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PRESCHOOL
Rector, Rebecca Kraft

Squish Squash Squished

40 pp. | Penguin/Paulsen | February, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-525-51683-5 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-525-51684-2 $10.99
(2) PS Illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte. In this entertaining (if unattributed) update of the classic Yiddish folktale "It Could Always Be Worse" (see Margot Zemach's 1976 version for the gold standard), two kids complain that it's too crowded in the back seat of Mom's car--what she calls her "gracious-spacious automobile"--as they drive into town. "'I'm squished,' said Max. 'Move over, Molly.' 'I'm squashed,' said Molly. 'Move over, Max.'" Unmoved, Mom proposes a solution: "Too tight for two? I know what to do." She stops to, sequentially, pick up Peter Jeeter with his piglet, who are waiting for the bus; Dolly Waddle with her two ducklings, walking to the Duck Pond; and Inch Pinch with her three puppies, whose quadracycle has a flat tire. (The lively pencil-and-digital illustrations portray a community of both human and animal residents.) Max and Molly keep grumbling, but they eventually catch on, and when they spot Scooter Mooter and his four calves by the side of the road, they hold their tongues. The schooled siblings continue to "hush-mush" as Mom drops her passengers off at their respective destinations. And after a pleasant time shopping at the outdoor market, including a "sweet treat," Max and Molly are only too happy to stretch out in the back of what they, too, now term their "gracious-spacious automobile." Rector's hyphenated-rhyme-laden text may be a bit much for some, but the humorous situation, cumulative action, abundance of audience-pleasing animal sounds ("QUACK QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! OINK OINK! WOOF"), and well-earned resolution should make ­readers glad to go along for the ride.
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

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