John Segal

Segal is the author of the popular Carrot Soup and this is a board book edition of a title that came out in 2011 and is now out of print.

A plump, pink pig is determined not to take a bath. After all, pirates never take baths and she is a pirate! But, her mother reminds her, pirates don't get seasick and she does! So, she decides to be a cowboy, a knight, an astronaut....and one by one, her mother finds a less-than-positive aspect of her choice. "It's hard to poop and pee in zero gravity" and show more while it's true there's no water in the desert for bathing, there's none for drinking either! Finally, she decides to be a treasure hunter and her mother knows just where she can find treasure; in the bathtub!

Segal's soft and silly watercolors illustrate this quirky story and the small pig's determination to avoid a bath at all costs and her mother's equally determined stance to talk her into it. It's sweet, funny, and very relatable for kids (and parents) who dread bath time.

Verdict: Although I like this story, I don't think it makes a really good board book. Each page has multiple small illustrations and sections of text and the soft watercolors could be difficult for very young children to decipher. I hope the publishers will bring this back as a picture book, because it's a delightful book, but it makes a much better picture book than board book.

ISBN: 9780399175589; Board book edition published 2016 by Philomel/Penguin; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less

This is another book that I believe children would absolutely love. There isn't a child in the world who wouldn't relate with this book at some point. The protagonist of the book wants to leave his home and go far away, but doesn't have any clue how or where to go. The character then sees that there is no better place for him than home. This is true for so many children in the world who wouldn't be able to survive without their home.

reviewed on www.vegbooks.org
http://vegbooks.org/index.php/2010/06/16/carrot-soup/

Carrot Soup is a tasty little tale about a rabbit who grows an assortment of carrots for his favorite meal: carrot soup. Rabbit does all the familiar farm labor of hoeing, planting, watering, and waiting… and waiting… and waiting… until it is finally harvest time. But when he goes to pull the carrots, he can’t find them anywhere! So he begins interrogating his friends one by one, who suggest a different show more friend to question. All of his friends deny or avoid answering his questions about his carrots, except for pig, who can’t be found anywhere. Finally, rabbit gives up and despondently returns home only to discover what really happened to all his carrots!

John Segal creates a funny, yummy mystery full of visual clues for children. The animal characters are illustrated with funny and expressive faces in watercolor and ink. The background scenes as rabbit interrogates individuals depict other animals carting off barrels and wagons of carrots. The pictures hint at the answers to rabbit’s mystery, but he is quite oblivious to all except his immediate surroundings and current suspect.

Besides the clever visual humor, I especially enjoyed the page to identify a variety of different types of carrots as well as a carrot soup recipe in the back. Unfortunately the soup recipe calls for chicken broth and butter but those could easily be substituted by the reader. Besides the recipe, Carrot Soup is otherwise a veg-friendly book.

Ages 3-8. show less

Little Mouse brags to everyone that he is the strongest animal around. His grandfather warns him to be cautious of his boasting, for fear that Elephant, master of the forest, will hear him. Having never seen Elephant, Little Mouse sets off to find Elephant and show him that he is the true master of the forest. When Little Mouse finally finds him, Elephant blows him away with water from his trunk. With his unfaltering prideful attitude, Little Mouse is convinced that it was just a strong show more storm and he is indeed still the strongest animal in the forest.

Little Mouse and Elephant starts off the way most tales do, making the reader aware that this is a story from the past by stating "there was once a mouse." For me, the lack of contractions in the characters' dialect really made a difference in the way I read the book. It made everything they said more matter of fact. The grandfather's wisdom is clearly conveyed through the way he speaks. Also, the way Little Mouse speaks shows not only how prideful he is, but how confident he is that he's right. show less