Great, Now We've Got Barbarians!

PreS-Gr 2—In the spirit of David McPhail's Edward and the Pirates and David Shannon's How I Became a Pirate, a boy learns that his untidy habits have the unwelcome effect of inviting barbarians into his house. At first, the boy ignores his mom's pleas to clean his room to avoid attracting pests. What's the worst that could happen? Ants? Mice? When barbarians, who revel in the chaos and snack leavings, show up, the boy is delighted—until they start using his toys to clean their ears and keep him up at night with battles over popcorn and sandwich leftovers, that is. The family's attempts to oust the intruders fail, and the boy realizes that his only solution is to clean his room. Eaton's text is silly and witty ("But that afternoon in the playroom, I ran into Törr, who'd come seeking glory. And cheese curls!"), but the description of a big-bearded barbarian's use of mom's lipstick as "war paint" could be problematic. Fearing's cartoon illustrations make the Viking-esque barbarians look more ridiculous than frightening. Many of the spreads include funny details, such as the invaders snacking on cat food, building forts from stolen blankets and pillows, and making a fire out of croquet mallets in the garage.