Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!

This onomatopoeic romp opens calmly, with a hopeful gardener planting a vegetable patch behind his brownstone house. Bright green leaves sprout from the rich soil. " Yum! Yum! Yummy!' said Mr. McGreeley. I'll soon fill my tummy with crisp, fresh veggies.' " He doesn't notice a cottontail trio watching expectantly from the garden wall. "And the sun went down. And the moon came up. And / Tippy-tippy-tippy, Pat!/ Spring-hurdle, / Dash! Dash! Dash!/ Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!" The brazen "twitch-whiskers" hop and dig their way to a fresh-picked salad, and Mr. McGreeley awakens to a row of gnawed stems. Karas (Saving Sweetness), who works in chalky gray pencil with brick-red, kale-green and creamy-yellow gouache, pictures the bunnies waiting patiently as the incensed Mr. McGreeley builds a wire fence, a moat and an enormous cinderblock tower with searchlights. Fleming (Gabriella's Song) demonstrates an ear for language as the suburban farmer battles his furry foes, night after night. The ritual culminates in the "gotcha" finale, in which the rabbits seem defeated, only to burst into view with a vigorous repeat of the title. Fleming and Karas demonstrate great comic timing in this high-spirited tale of one-upmanship. Ages 3-7. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

K-Gr 2-Mr. McGreely has always wanted a vegetable garden and when he finally plants one, he can't wait to taste his crisp, yummy produce. Apparently, three neighborhood rabbits are anticipating sampling the veggies as well, for "one night, when the sun went down and the moon came up," they appear. The next morning, the gardener awakens to find gnawed vegetables. In frustration, he begins to build a series of fences to keep the creatures away. Fleming has fun with language throughout the story, repeating the "Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!" refrain every time the thieves sneak past the ever-extended and elaborate barricades into the garden. Finally, after building a stone guard tower, Mr. McGreely is able to thwart the animals-or is he? The surprise ending will have youngsters giggling. Illustrations, rendered in gouache with acrylic and pencil and utilizing deep shades of brown and green, have an earthy feel to them. They exude warmth and lend personality to the plotting pests. Pair this with Janet Stevens's Tops and Bottoms (Harcourt, 1995) for a hilarious hop through the garden at storytime.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.