Uh-Oh!

July 1, 2008
PreS-A spirited African-American toddler makes his way through a busy day, fraught with messes and mischief. On each page, there is a peaceful, everyday tableau with a one- or two-word description"Diaper," "Kitty cat," "Ice cream," etc. When the page is turned, the opposite side reveals the word, "uh-oh," and the illustration reflects the result of some mishap. The child has taken all the wipes out of the box, the cat has run up a tree, and the ice-cream cone has fallen to the ground. The final "uh-oh" comes when Grandpa reads the boy a bedtime story and ends up falling asleep himself. The very simple language, along with the repetition of the universal toddler distress signal, "uh-oh," will entice its target audience. However, one illustration is difficult to decipher as it's unclear whether the problem is that the child has thrown the toys out of the bathtub, or climbed out alone. Still, this is a fairly appealing addition to the "toddler-on-the-move" genre."Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2008
An adorable African American toddler knows one phrase very wellUh-oh! Each boxy, bordered, right-hand page features one or two wordsfor instance, diaper. The verso, with art thatnowbleeds to the edges, gives the idea of immediacy: The formerly diaper-clad child is now naked, covered with baby powder, and spouting his signature phrase. So it goes as the boy eats breakfast (thendumps thebowl on his head); colors with his crayons (on the wall); pets his cat (who then appears up a tree); and eats an ice-cream cone with a friend (it winds up on the ground). The last scenes show the boy and Grandpa reading. The word is bedtime, but turn the page, and its Grandpa who hasfallen asleep. Uh-oh, indeed. Little ones will recognize their own lives in these pages, and the minimalist text leaves plenty of space to talk about everyday events. Thedreadlockedchild (his mother appears with a similar hairdo on the title page) makes a compelling protagonist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2008
Homey, vibrantly colored pastel illustrations present a series of before-and-after scenes that occur during a mischievous toddler's day. In the tidily framed picture marked "Breakfast," the child sits in his highchair, calmly spooning cereal into his mouth. On the next page -- the "Uh-oh!" moment -- the frame has disappeared and the bowl has become a hat, cereal now clotting the boy's dreadlocks and dripping down toward the floor. And so the procession of order and toddler-style chaos continues. Even if young listeners can guess what's coming when, for instance, an expanse of yellow wall on the "Crayons" page practically cries out for the boy's "Uh-oh!" artwork, they'll nonetheless get a charge from each thrilling descent into disarray. Of course, the boy's batteries finally wind down and he falls asleep, fortifying himself to do it all again tomorrow.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2008
Vibrantly colored pastels present before and after scenes from a mischievous toddler's day. Even if listeners can guess what's coming (e.g., a wall on the "Crayons" page practically cries out for "Uh-oh!" artwork), they'll nonetheless get a charge from each descent into disarray. Of course, the boy finally winds down and falls asleep, fortifying himself to do it all again tomorrow.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)