From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5-This collection of light verse looks at subjects ranging from crickets to clocks, dogs to dust. Thirty-one poems employ various rhyme schemes as they describe everyday things and situations that many children will relate to: company coming, a favorite chair, secretly feeding the dog under the table, toilet paper that has run out. Oftentimes concretely descriptive ("Diapers in the bathtub/Stroller in the hall/Highchair in the kitchen/Spinach on the wall-"), but occasionally employing metaphor (a baby spider that's a "Bungee-jumping astronaut"), most verses are grounded in the commonplace and sometimes surprise ("Need protection?/I'm your man!/I bark at bad guys/Loud as I can!/I've barked all day/Since I was a pup,/But how do they thank me?/`Hey! Shut up!'"). However, some themes seem more adult-sleeplessness, the joyous revenge of passing on ugly family heirlooms, the thermostat wars between mom and dad-or take a nostalgic turn that will be enjoyed more by older children. The layout, cover, and relatively large-font size, however, suggest a younger set. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations scattered about the white pages are for the most part skillfully drawn, with a delicate line and lots of color, adding humor and helping to set the scene. They portray a middle-class milieu, which is in keeping with much of the poems' content, but the all-white cast limits the ability to imagine other people who might inhabit these lines. The verses can stand alone, however, and would make for fun reading aloud-especially the four poems for two voices.