Click, Clack, Surprise!

In the 11th “Click, Clack” book by Cronin and Lewin, Farmer Brown and the animals are preparing for Little Duck’s birthday party. Once the cake is baked, the decorations hung, and the games chosen, the animals focus on spiffing themselves up for the event. In turn, the duck, sheep, cat, chickens, and pigs “rub-a-dub,” “snippity-clip,” “slurp-a-lurp,” “shimmy-shake,” and “squish and squash” clean. Little Duck follows their example, ending with a dust bath and a roll in a mud puddle. Readers are likely to get caught up in the onomatopoeic fun and may be inspired by Lewin’s energetic watercolors to wiggle, shake, and strut along with the animals. VERDICT Sure to be a lively storytime read-aloud. Recommended for most picture book collections. – School Library Journal * November 2016 * Farmer Brown’s barnyard animals are still going strong in the series that started with the hilarious Click, Clack, Moo (2000). Once again the action in the barnyard comes to life with endearingly wacky pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations and fun-on-the-tongue word combinations (like slurp-a-lurp and snippety-clip ). It’s Little Duck’s first birthday, and the farm is abuzz with preparations. Little Duck really wants to shine, so he imitates the grooming of the other animals. Things start off well with Big Duck, who rub-adubs clean in a bubble bath in one of Farmer Brown’s buckets. But when the sheep trim their wool, Little Duck shears his own feathers; and his imitation of the chickens’ dust bath leaves him a mess. The pattern continues until Little Duck arrives, thoroughly disheveled, at his party to a chorus of “Happy Birthday to . . . ewww!” It’s no surprise that the wordplay, repetition, and silly situations created by Cronin and Lewin make for another fantastic read-aloud in the Click, Clack, Moo cannon.

• Connie Fletcher – Booklist online * October 6, 2016 * In this addition to the series that began with Click, Clack, Moo, it’s Little Duck’s birthday, and the farm animals are busy getting ready. Cronin merrily describes their preparations in repeating language (“The chickens take a dust bath to look their best. They shimmy-shake, shimmy-shake, shimmy-shake clean”), but the real fun comes as Little Duck mimics each animal, getting frizzier, dustier, and muddier in the process. Lewin adeptly portrays the story’s physical comedy in swoopy mixed-media scenes that build to a “Happy Birthday to… ewww!” finale. It’s goofy birthday fun that will probably have some readers shimmy-shaking and slurp-a-lurping along with the animals. Ages 4-8. – Publishers Weekly * August 8, 2016 *

Doreen Cronin is the “New York Times” bestselling author of picture books such as “Rescue Bunnies”, the Diary of …

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