Children Make Terrible Pets (Starring Lucille Beatrice Bear #1)

Lucy, a tutu-clad bear child, begs her mother to allow her to keep a small boy she finds in the forest. Despite the titular misgivings, Mom relents, and Lucy and Squeaker (all he ever says is “squeak”) play happily together for a time before—surprise!—problems emerge. Squeaker is “impossible to potty train” (he glowers from the litter box), ruins the furniture by jumping and tearing it apart, throws food at tea parties and then disappears altogether. Heartbroken, Lucy searches for him, and when she finally finds him with his human family, rightly decides to leave him there, concluding, “I guess some critters just aren't meant to be pets.” The art, with narration in green text boxes and conversations in pink speech balloons, was created with pencil, construction paper, wood and computer. Squeaker, perhaps intentionally, is undeveloped and unconvincing, but the blocky bears are appealing. The story lacks depth and subtlety, although young children may find the role reversal hilarious, and the catchy title and ’50s nouveau art provide a soupçon of charm. (Picture book. 4-7) --Kirkus

In this tongue-in-cheek role reversal, a girlish bear named Lucy makes a pet of a small boy. She declares him "the cutest critter in the whole forest" and begs her mother, "Can I keep him, please?" Her mother, unbearishly seated in a comfy chair and reading a book, delivers the title's sound advice, but allows Lucy to keep the boy. Brown (The Curious Garden) mimes the escalating challenges of animal care. The boy, who Lucy names Squeaker, "because he makes funny sounds," throws tantrums and will not use a litter box. Lucy is relieved when Squeaker escapes home, where his family enjoys a backyard picnic as though he had not been absent. Even though Brown's humans wear clothes and live in a house, they are basically squirrels: they all say "squeak" from the bears' POV, while the bears act like flummoxed babysitters: Lucy walks upright in a tutu, her mother wears a skirt and pearls, and their dialogue appears in prim construction-paper voice bubbles. Framed in wood-grain borders, the action takes place in an artificial outdoors and parodies those who are pushovers for exotic specimens. Ages 36. (Sept.) Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1--Lucy, a young brown bear in a pink skirt and hair bow, meets the most adorable little boy in the forest one day. She takes him home, excitedly shows him to her mother, and begs, "Can I keep him, PLEASE?" Though her mother warns her that "children make terrible pets," Lucy is bound and determined to prove her wrong. Agreeing to take full responsibility for her new companion, Lucy and Squeaker eat, play, and nap together. However, the cub soon finds that there is some truth to her mother's admonitions. The child is hard on the furniture, creates chaos everywhere, and absolutely refuses to be potty trained. When Squeaker goes missing, Lucy tracks him down and discovers that all involved will be better off if the lad remains where she finds him. It's a hard truth, but Lucy has to admit that her mother was right. The amusing, soft-hued illustrations on tan backgrounds are worked in pencil on cut construction paper and a bit of "digital tweaking." Each spread is placed on frames made of a variety of woods. The dialogue is shown in speech bubbles, hand lettered by the author/illustrator, while the narration is placed in rectangular boxes. Appealing and humorous, with a lesson to boot!--Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Joyfully animated illustrations." —The New York Times Book Review