Upside Down Babies

December 23, 2013
Willis and Reynolds, the team behind I'm Sure I Saw a Dinosaur and other stories, imagine a (gentle) global cataclysm that jumbles the natural order: "Once when the world tipped upside down,/ The earth went blue and the sky went brown./ All the baby animals tumbled out of bed/ And ended up with very funny moms instead." Willis's bouncy nursery-rhyme cadence propels readers through several funny fish-out-of-water scenarios that see a baby pig landing "ker-plonk in a parrot's nest," a baby lion howling "I want meat!" when offered grass by Mommy Cow, and mutual puzzlement on the parts of Mrs. Cheetah and Mrs. Sloth, who end up with each other's slow and speedy offspring. Reynolds's characteristically exuberant illustrations revel in the comedic possibilities, from a baby polar bear's dismay at being stuck in the desert with Mommy Camel to a mother owl's early morning shock when Baby Rooster starts crowing. A second out-of-the-blue occurrence sets things right, but Willis and Reynolds conclude with a punchline that will tickle any readers who already think of their younger siblings as being part ape. Ages 4â9.

February 1, 2014

PreS-When the world goes topsy-turvy, animal babies are tumbled into the wrong habitats. Told in verse, the text generally scans well. However, American readers may not be familiar with the semantic differentiation between land-dwelling tortoises and water-dwelling turtles and may wonder why the baby tortoise can't swim. Another source for confusion is the camel/polar bear pairing, "Polar Bear landed in the desert sand./Poor Mommy Camel couldn't understand/Why he had the hump and growled a lot./There wasn't any snow. He was far too hot!" Unless readers are familiar with the Briticism, they won't know that "having the hump" means being in a bad mood, and may question if an error was made. Despite a few sticking points, the rhyme scheme is varied, and the story is short enough for read-aloud enjoyment. The boisterous illustrations feature cartoon animals shaded with a surprising depth of color that is quite beautiful, and the overall effect is bold and bright. The animals are friendly looking (except for the strange sloth), and their expressive features heighten the humor of the text. This title will be popular with the storytime crowd.-Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
One day when "the world tipped upside down," its baby animals land in the wrong beds; the results are comically incongruous--e.g., "Lion Cub fell in a field on his head, / 'Eat up your grass, dear,' Mommy Cow said." The rhymes mosey along while secretly educating readers about the differences among animals. The slapstick-infused illustrations capitalize on the absurd premise.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)