Rex Wrecks It!

PreS-Gr 1—Full of playful language and with no shortage of alliteration, this is a rousing tale about cooperative play. When Rex (a dino) wrecks their block buildings, Gizmo (a robot), Sparkles (a unicorn bunny), and Wild (a furry little monster) must come up with a way to include Rex so that they can all build—and then destroy—a cooperative creation together. The book design is particularly well done with a pleasing square shape and full-bleed illustrations. The pale, understated shades are a perfect accompaniment to the intense activity as Rex destroys the various block creations. Clanton uses space particularly well, creating a static backdrop against which the characters move by setting the stage solely with a pale blue-checkered floor. The quieter moments feature plentiful space on the page, but when Rex wrecks things, the colored blocks explode across the page and the bold, chunky typeface makes the words stand out. Clanton's minimalistic cartoon art is a restrained cousin to Mo Willems's "Elephant & Piggie" books (Hyperion). This book is a good addition for young readers, so better practice up pronouncing "awesomerific" for the numerous read-alouds to come.—Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus