Andrea Tsurumi

An amusing story about a couple whose pet chickens multiply and take over their lives! The illustrations are busy and full of great details to pore over, reminiscent of a search and find (culminating in a full page "where's waldo" esque spread). I love the matter of fact presentation of the men's relationship, and how tenderly they obviously care for each other. The chickens themselves are full of character and detail, with various breeds shown. Well suited for storytime, with the caveat show more that EVERYONE will be wanting to check it out afterwards to look more closely at each page. show less

A charming and amusing tale of chickens overrunning the household and ultimately finding their destiny (does not involve a pot or oven). Mr. Watson and Mr. Nelson are a couple and although that is not the focus of the story, there is a sweet depiction of their relationship. Mr. Nelson is very patient with all the chickens until he is not, and Mr. Watson knows he has to do something because "he loves Mr. Nelson more than he loves the chickens." They even call each other Mr. Watson and Mr. show more Nelson. Kids will pore over the Where's Waldo-style spreads of chickens, chickens, chickens. I know I was looking for the two dogs and three cats in those spreads! show less

Lola knocks over a full pitcher and, worrying that she's "ruined everything," heads off to the library where she thinks she can hide from this catastrophe. Along the way, she meets with several others who have encountered "disaster" through similar mishaps. At last, Lola and her new compatriots are told that what actually happened were all accidents and the only thing these mistakes require is help in remedying them.

I really like the message of this book, as young children often fear the show more worse when they have merely made a mistake. But they also aren't told they can get away with zero consequences -- when they cause a problem, even if just accidentally, they must work to fix the damage.

However, the book itself was overwhelming to me. The illustrations have so much action and chaos that I felt like I didn't know where to look first and couldn't take it all in. Small children may love all that motion and detail, but I did not. show less

A variety of undersea creatures go about their business ("Parrotfish crunches coral and poops sand...Octopus hides in a coconut") and....Crab bakes cakes. Until one night, there's a "big splash!" and a huge pile of garbage slides off the back of a ship and onto the sea floor. The colors turn from bright to gloomy, muddy gray-green, all the animals freeze and stare, and Crab...bakes a cake. But Crab's cake brings everyone together, and "everyone helps" with the plan to drag all the garbage to show more the surface and dump it on the humans' pier with a sign that says "COME GET YOUR JUNK!" All returns to normal under the sea, and Crab, of course, goes back to baking.

Back matter includes a few online resources for kids about ocean health and plastic pollution. show less