Hey Diddle Diddle

PreS-Gr 3—The jacket flap invites readers to "sing along" but they might have a difficult time settling on a tune as they slog their way through the awkward and stilted rhymes. The text, paired with serviceable, clear illustrations, follows three food chains in and around a pond. The anthropomorphic animals can be slightly disturbing as readers have a chance to get to know them a little just before they are gulped down. This is particularly true when the bass and the frog have a disagreement just before the frog becomes a meal. To make matters worse, the frog's horrified friends watch the whole thing from the safety of a lily pad. Animal facts are included in the text, sometimes as non sequiturs, and they do nothing to help the rhyme scheme. "He snatched that snake right off the ground./Gobbled him up without a sound/and sang, 'Hey diddle diddle—I don't ask why/I've got feathers to help me fly.'" Unfortunately, while making an appearance at the top of a food chain, a bobcat is described as sneaky and sly, giving her negative qualities she doesn't deserve; she is just hungry after all. Forced and kind of creepy, this book isn't the best choice for the topic.—Heather Acerro, Rochester Public Library, MN