Synopsis
Illustrations and easy-to-read text show how, as two children search for their dog Jake, he stays just a step ahead of them.
School Library Journal
Sentences describing the action of a Dog and Cat are quite awkward: ``The dog is old, not like the cat. He cannot chase the fat, fat cat.'' While the illustrations are nicely rendered, they do little to clarify a confusingly worded text. Bunny, Bunny does little that will excite readers, although the story is told in gentle verse. Monsters! focuses on the number of sparkling, lovable monsters that seem to be everywhere in a young towhead's room. The 45-word text is passable, and individual illustrations are amusing, but there seems to be no correlation between one illustration and the next; each page sprouts a different set of monsters, somewhat destroying the counting/cumulative effect. In Where Is Jake? two children and their dog play hide-and-seek; the watercolors are bright and realistic. Location terms are used: up, down, under, and above. Each book uses a limited number of words; consequently the flow of the language is somewhat stilted and choppy, but not totally without natural rhythm. The books are dull but readable; most titles in the ``Step into Reading'' series (Random) are superior, as are many of the earlier titles in the ``Rookie Readers'' (Childrens) series. --Sharron McElmeel, Cedar Rapids Community Schools, IA