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(3)
PS
Small Elephant doesn't like bathtime. Toys and bubbles don't tempt him, but seeing his big daddy squeezing into the tiny tub does the trick, and once in, Small Elephant won't get out. Even when angry, Small Elephant is cute in the spare blue-and-red illustrations. It's doubtful unwilling washers will be inspired, but adults who've bathed one will relate to the hate-to-get-in/hate-to-get-out bathtime paradox.
(4)
PS
Little Frog is far from pleased when his parents bring home nine new tadpoles. Tadpoles can't play or jump and, worst of all, they get all of Mommy and Daddy's attention. But when they grow into little frogs, they become great playmates for their older brother. Duo-toned in lime green and magenta, minimal line drawings animate this universal, if very predictable, story.
(3)
PS
Little Owl doesn't like the too-itchy, too-long, too-orange scarf that Mommy knit for him, so he tries losing it, finally ditching it successfully at the zoo. While Owl happily wears the soft, just-long-enough, not-orange replacement, readers will notice a long-necked zoo giraffe sporting the castoff. Spare line drawings with a limited color palette set against white space complement the story's simple charm.
32 pp.
| Knopf
| June, 2012
|
TradeISBN 978-0-375-87087-3$16.99
(4)
K-3
After Small Bunny's mom washes his constant (inanimate) companion, she insists that it's "good as new!" Small Bunny does "not like new," but he ultimately restores the blanket to its former glory. Message sinks any chance of a developed plot, but the stark, sometimes barely-there illustrations, rendered in a bunny-and-blanket-against-the-world spirit, are heart-tugging.