Review by Booklist Review
PreS. In an exuberant read-aloud for the lap-sit crowd, Wells illustrates Loesser's famous song from Guys and Dolls with bright farmyard scenes of two ducklings that flirt and play. The ducks embody the best of Wells' popular animal cast, both sweet and tough, and toddlers will be smitten by the blend in words and pictures of soppy love, mischief, and mayhem (The cows and chickens / are going to the dickens ). He is in overalls; she is in a purple skirt. They jump rope, and he dances on the apple barrel; plays accordion, banjo, trumpet, and violin (doodle oodle oodle ) for her; and shouts I love you from a propeller plane flying above the fields. Loesser's words and music are at the back, and the sweet nonsense is sure to have both readers and listeners joining in with the ducks to act out the hugs and pecks. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Hugs and kisses abound in an array of heartfelt titles just right for book-loving Valentines. Cheerful and high-spirited I Love You! A Bushel and a Peck adapts Frank Loesser's lyrics from a song in Guys and Dolls. Rosemary Wells, in her illustrations, introduces a brightly-colored pair of yellow ducks who eye each other, talk on the phone nightly and eventually drive off together in a shiny red, wind-up toy convertible. Loesser's melody is included at the end, highlighting the tune's folksy phrases (e.g., "it beats me all to heck," "y'bet your pretty neck" and "Doodle oodle oodle ooo"). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-The infectious song from Guys and Dolls is delightfully celebrated in this illustrated version. Two endearing ducklings, one wearing overalls and the other in a pink skirt and headband, court one another while going through a busy day on the farm. The vibrantly colored single- and double-page paintings are packed with humorous details. For example, one scene shows the male duck driving a pickup truck while the female rides in the back with a load of pumpkins. One bump later, she and the pumpkins are lifted into the air. Next, she drives the truck while he rides in the back. For the lyrics "Barrel and a heap/and I'm talkin' in my sleep/about you./About you?/About you!/My heart is leapin'!/I'm having trouble sleepin'!" the illustrations show the duck lying wide awake in his bed, and then finally phoning his sleepy sweetheart on the next page. In the end, the couple drives off in a wind-up toy red convertible. Delicious endpapers show bushels and pecks of freshly harvested produce against a deep blue background. The words and music are appended. This merry romp is perfect for little "guys and dolls."-Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Amusing paintings of two ducklings at play accompany the first and third verses of a song from Guys and Dolls (where it was a kitchy-coo number set in a strip club). To say that the pictures ""illustrate"" the song would be a bit much as the song has little narrative content and even less to do with ducks. The music and lyrics are appended. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A duckling farmer tries to let his lady love know how he feels about her as they work the farm. He calls her in the middle of the night, skywrites X's and O's, serenades her, and finally takes her on vacation as the farm animals run amok. Wells's unmistakable pudgy, open-faced characters, flirty ducklings this time, cavort, bounce, race, and promenade around a farmyard in this bucolic interpretation of Loesser's song from the Broadway show Guys & Dolls. The text, adapted from the lyrics, winds across some pages, fills frames on others, and forms the frames on still others, all the while suggesting a musical rhythm. Toddlers will get caught up in the exuberance, and parents will wonder why they never noticed the Mother Goose quality of the song as they tap their feet. Backmatter includes the actual words and music for adventuresome presenters. (Picture book. 2-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
