Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Splash!

January 13, 2014
In this follow-up to Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! and Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide!, Mr. McGreely has had it with his “bunny problems,” so he packs up and heads to the beach. Naturally, the bunnies come along (“Tippy-tippy-tippy, pat! Click-click-snap!” goes the seat belt as the bunnies sneak into the back seat of his car). At the beach, the bunnies repeatedly and resoundingly outshine Mr. McGreely when it comes to collecting shells, flying kites, and “shooting the curls,” all building up toward a meltdown on the man’s part and an “if you can’t beat ’em” ending. Sunny bunny fun, through and through. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

December 15, 2013
A dozen years since they first made an appearance, and not a day older or wiser, Fleming's three young cottontails return to bedevil Mr. McGreely (Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, 2002, etc.). The bunnies still have a few tricks up their sleeves to get under Mr. McGreely's skin. Where once they ate his garden to the ground, now they are doing their unintended best to undermine his vacation, one he has taken expressly to get away from the "floppyeared, pufftailed twitchwhiskers." They manage to stow away in his car, then happily join him on his beach towel. Mr. McGreely storms off to do some shell collecting ("No bunny--nohow, noway--is sharing my fun day"). He returns with paltry fragments that he is very proud of, only to find that the bunnies have found a trove of spectacular shells. His kite flies for two seconds--again, he's very proud--while the bunnies paraglide with their kite, and so on. In the end, there is a message about teamwork, which is not to be ignored, but it is Fleming's text that raises the bar of joy to such heights, with her quirky internal rhymes--"Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, grab!...Tippy-nab"--and descriptive language. Karas invests each character with acres of personality. It's a happy reunion with the bunnies for children, if a dubious one for Mr. McGreely. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Watch out, Mr. McGreely! The pesky trio of bunnies from Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! (S & S, 2002) are back in this continuing adventure. Mr. McGreely wants to take a beach day to get away from the rabbits. Readers will quickly guess who's going to stow away in the backseat of the car. They even "click, clack, snap" the three seatbelts in the style of imitation onomatopoeia, which peppers the entire story. Admirers of Karas's signature folksy illustrations will not be disappointed with the lively and whimsical depictions of Mr. McGreely being mildly dismayed to find the stowaways have followed him. Once again, he is plagued by a case of bunnies, who have a penchant for turning every pleasurable, mundanely beachy activity, such as shell-finding, into an intense competition, leaving poor McGreely infuriated and outmatched. He tries surfing and sinks as the bunnies sing, "cowa-bunny!" He is losing the sand castle contest and even starts to cry, until the bunnies save the day by lending a hand to the reluctant and downtrodden gardener. All together, bunnies and man work on the epic sand castle until McGreely is declared the winner, finally grinning and exclaiming, "Now THAT... was fun!" Appropriate for read-alouds and beach-themed lessons.-Ellie Lease, Harford County Public Library, MD

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2014
Preschool-G Long-suffering Mr. McGreely, first met in Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! (2002), is back, as are the trio of rabbits intent on ruining his peace and quiet. This time, he's off for a day at the beach, anxious to leave the pesky pufftails behind. But the intrepid bunnies stow away in his car, eager to share in the fun. Once there, Mr. McGreely goes about his entertainments, gathering shells, flying a kite, and riding the waves, only to be outdone by the bunnies at every turn. But when it comes time to enter the sand-castle contest, he relents, and, in joining forces, the four are victorious. Fleming's onomatopoeicslant rhymes ( HUFF PUFF GASP PANT PUFF! ) express the rabbits' irrepressible enthusiasm, providing a perfect foil for Mr. McGreely's crotchety intransigence, all of it matched by Karas' delightful paintings. The final spread shows the group sharing a meal at the Veggie Hut (the prize for the contest) in tentative tranquility, but it would be no surprise to see further antics in another volume of fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)