Oh, Nuts!

PreS-Gr 1–Three fat-cheeked chipmunks live at the zoo–tall, skinny Cutesy; short, big-eyed Blinky; and blobby Bob. Although they zip around trying to attract attention, the human visitors only want to watch the koalas, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and other enclosed animals chew grass, flick bugs, and sleep. The chipmunks attempt dangerous stunts, don wacky disguises, and play loud music to get noticed, but nothing works. Finally, Bob comes up with a surefire plan. They squeeze into an animal enclosure and chew grass, flick bugs, and play dead. This, of course, gains them instant notoriety and the public adores them. But as soon as they achieve their long-desired fame, they become “so OVER the paparazzi” and go back to their tree so they can once again live in obscurity. The mildly amusing text takes much of the book to build up to an obvious climax and ends abruptly. The digital illustrations, which look like they came from a Nickelodeon cartoon, feature bug-eyed, exaggerated characters that border on the grotesque and try too hard to inject humor into the story. For more entertaining zoo animals, check out Judy Sierra and Marc Brown’s ZooZical (Knopf, 2011).–Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT