Who Needs a Bath?

K-Gr 2—There's a guidance lesson buried somewhere in Mack's second book about a cheerful bear and his malodorous and cranky skunk friend. Who will come to Skunk's surprise party if he doesn't take a bath? Concerned, Bear makes every effort to show Skunk how much FUN a bath can be, turning himself into a clownish victim when he catapults from a tree swing, bounces too high on a trampoline, and races down a water slide, all resulting in wet Bear. "See? This bath is fun!" he repeats after each mishap. But Skunk isn't convinced. "That bath does NOT look like fun." In a sudden outburst Bear reveals his concern…that no one will come to the party if Skunk smells bad. Hearing the word "party," their forest friends assume that a pool party was the plan all along. Even Skunk can't resist a pool party! Mack digitizes his pen and ink on paper illustrations and enhances them in Photoshop, resulting in a vibrant, layered and dynamic finished product. There's a lot of opportunity for predictive and participative reading in this winning title. Match it up with Joe Kulka's Wolf's Coming (Carolrhoda, 2007) for a little "compare and contrast" activity.