Too Much! Not Enough!

April 9, 2018
Peanut and Moe share a house and bunk beds, and not much else. It’s a personality thing: the goober-shaped Peanut is boisterous, inconsiderate, and judges every situation to be “not enough.” The disciplined, cautious Moe, who looks like a slab of blue clay with bear cub ears and a big pink nose, prefers a life that isn’t “too much.” During the course of their day together, it becomes evident that trouble is brewing. Moe cleans up Peanut’s cooking mess while Peanut clowns around with the soap bubbles. When Moe complains, “Too much noise,” during a music session, the heedless Peanut, who is playing three kazoos and banging on a drum, sings, “Not enough kazoos!” Peanut ultimately offers the exasperated Moe heartfelt acts of contrition, and Perry’s (Small) quirky cartooning and all-dialogue, opposites-driven text should hold the attention of younger readers. There’s a bit of a power differential in this relationship—Peanut even gets the vast majority of the text’s exclamation points—but, despite their differences, a final spread shows that Peanut and Moe’s affection for one another is unconditional. Ages 3–7.

May 1, 2018
They could be Felix and Oscar of The Odd Couple, except Perry has made one into what looks like an animated peanut (named, appropriately, Peanut) and the other a tidy refrigerator with Jimmy Durante's beezer.Moe likes things on the controlled, neat side; Peanut likes things in constant motion. "Too much splashing" is met with "not enough puddles." "Too much food" is countered with "Not enough syrup." The two of them go back and forth, one unnerved by the gathering chaos, the other ready to test the limits of chaos theory. But it is rather fun. Moe may be a bit of a neatnik, but the pink-nosed, snaggle-toothed blue monster isn't oppressive about it, and Peanut is never an in-your-face pest--actually Peanut's always looking for the silver lining to turn Moe's grumbles (though Moe rarely, rarely has a grumpy face) into joy: "Too much mess." "Not enough bubbles!" That is what separates this book about differences--the mood is upbeat. Even when Moe blows a fuse and goes out into the night to study the stars (though it is raining) and get away from the mayhem, readers know common ground is not far away and that after Peanut has cleaned the place up--inquiring upon Moe's return if it is "Too much" tidiness--all will be well.Good spirits takes the solemnity out of differences. (Picture book. 3-7)

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May 15, 2018
Grades K-3 Comparisons to The Odd Couple are patently unavoidable here, and what this may sacrifice in concept and originality, it makes up for in fun and relatability. The energetic Peanut (more closely resembling an upside-down squash) and the much more mellow Moe (whose family tree must include at least one pink-and-blue Muppet) share bunk beds, but not opinions on temperance versus indulgence. The result: a positive spin on varying perspectives. For example, on a rainy day, one monster laments that there are not enough puddles, while the other feels there's too much splashing. This goes on for a while, with one line from each per double-page tableau ( Too much noise. Not enough kazoos! ), until the disagreement boils over and they both end up seeing the value of each other's point of view, although the ending is a bit one-sided. Gouache and Photoshop lend the colorful cartoon-style art both frivolity and poignancy as it fills each page and supports the straightforward text for early readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)