Spike & Ike Take a Hike

PreS-Gr 2—While out on a hike, Spike, a hedgehog, and Ike, a coatimundi, get hungry and decide to go to Ike's cousin's for lunch. They encounter several creatures as they walk along the shore, across a meadow, and through a bog. Large illustrations, done in watercolor, salt, and colored pencil, cover most of each spread and depict the different landscapes and animals Spike and Ike see, while speech balloons convey their comments. Page turns reveal even more chatter from the pair. Rhyming cumulative text summarizing their observations runs along the bottom of each page. For example, on one spread, Ike says that the bog they must cross is wet. The text underneath reads, "Soggy/bog." A page turn shows the unhappy pals plagued by bugs, and the text below states, "Soggy/buggy bog." Many frogs eating the bugs appear in the last spread in this section, and the cumulative text on the bottom summarizes the scene: "Soggy froggy/buggy bog." This book is a delight on many levels. The illustrations are filled with humorous details. Ike and Spike cry and frown in vexation as they are swarmed by bugs, and the reprise of all the happy animals in a "lunch bunch munch" is charming. The cumulative text bursting with rhyme and alliteration is just perfect for beginning readers learning the sounds of language. After enjoying this story, they may even be stimulated to create their own cumulative text for favorite pictures. Don't miss this neat treat.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT