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.)