Animal House

Various animals offer suggestions to make a children's treehouse a fun place to play

Kindergarten-Grade 3 In this rollicking story in verse, a group of children imagine what kind of tree house each of their various stuffed animals would like best. "Here we have some architects/with talent, brains, and fur./Let's ask them to help us plan/the house we'd all prefer!" The youngsters "consult" otters, monkeys, sheep, giraffes, snakes, rabbits, cats, pigs, dogs, and squirrels; each of their ideal houses is given a two-page spread showing the animal families enjoying their own special design features to the fullest. The otters have slides down into a moat, the monkeys enjoy hammocks in the trees, etc. Emblazoned on a glorious four-page spread that folds out at the end is every child's dream tree house, big enough to amuse a whole classroom of children and incorporating lots of the animals' ideas. The cheerful, cozy illustrations in acrylic paints, colored pencils, and pastels are full of interesting and humorous details that children will enjoy discovering. Readers will have great fun, and may even be inspired to plan unique tree houses of their own. Sue Norris, Rye Free Reading Room, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Busy, brightly hued art and bouncy verse record the efforts of a variety of creatures to design a dream house. The merriment begins when a group of children gather a menagerie of stuffed animals and announce, "Here we have some architects/ with talent, brains, and fur./ Let's ask them to help us plan/ the house we'd all prefer." Springing to life, 10 critters take turns. A giraffe peers out of a conveniently high window, just below a patterned rug ("PLEASE don't paint the ceilings white./ That's such an awful bore./ Put a fancy rug up there!/ Why waste it on the floor?"). A cross-section view of a rabbit warren shows one resident dyeing eggs as three others play a board game of "Chutes and Burrows"; the title of a book nearby reads "Demand Royalties from Magicians" (on its cover, a rabbit's fist sticks up from a magician's hat, in a power-to-the-people salute). In a grand finale, a double gatefold opens to disclose live and stuffed animals (and children) in a sprawling tree house that incorporates elements from all the species' wish lists. This breezy volume will encourage aspiring architects' imaginations to soar beyond four walls and a roof. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.