Do Not EVER Be a Babysitter!

March 1, 2020

K-Gr 2-Uncle Pig is over to babysit his niece and nephews. He just has one quick question for the reader-do you know anything about kids?! Kids like doing laundry and scrubbing toilets, right? What about snack time-will Limburger cheese work? As Pig stumbles through his babysitting session, he learns alongside his kids to compromise so that everyone can have a fun and safe experience. As in Muntean's Do Not Open This Book, the interactive and metafiction elements will work well for storytime and read-alouds. Illustrations are solid and playful, and the large character design against a usually negative background also make this ideal for large group sharing. Large spreads are especially enjoyable, and kids will like seeing how each little pig is getting into trouble behind their uncle's back. VERDICT A nice addition to storytimes.-Peter Blenski, Hartland Public Library, WI

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
These piggy progeny are a problem! The erudite (and one might say uptight) pig from Do Not Open This Book (2006) has been prevailed upon to babysit his niece and nephews. "Do you know anything about children?" the pig asks readers. He wonders if there's any way to control the volume on them or if they come with specific washing instructions. Their mother has left a list of ways to keep them occupied, but it seems the protagonist's ideas of what constitutes playtime (the harp or golf) are not in sync with the piglets', and readers are likely to tell him so. It's the same with snack time (would piglets like Limburger and caviar?) and nap time. After a disastrous "CRASH!" the harried porker asks readers to assess a list of suggested activities to entertain these unruly kids: laundry, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, or going outside. The page turn gives readers the opportunity to supply the correct answer, which he tries. Outdoor play seems to work for a moment--until the mud fight. But after a little d�tente on the part of his charges, he decides babysitting is not all that bad. Lema�tre's bright cartoons bring James Stevenson to mind, and they provide plenty of giggles in their interaction with Muntean's all-dialogue text. The pig's gender is never specified textually, but stereotypes both visual and cultural suggest the protagonist is male. Interactive silliness for both babysitters and babysat. (Picture book. 3-7)

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