Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. After the library closes for the evening, story hour puppets Rabbit and Lion search for their puppet-friend Hermit Crab. Armed with a map, a flashlight, and a picnic salvaged from the ucky-blucky trash can, they explore the dark library, afraid that giants may have eaten their friend. When they become lost, Lion makes a paper boat, and they sail across the library--into a rock that talks, which turns out to be Hermit Crab, on his own adventure. Then the three friends share a late-night snack and read themselves to sleep under the stars. Softly colored illustrations show the puppets enjoying their after-hours freedom but apprehensive about what might be hiding in the library's dark corners. A charming story, with special appeal for children who are convinced their own toys come to life in their absence. --Karen Hutt Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Three puppets enjoy a nighttime adventure in a library after hours. Amiable and amusing full-page illustrations, done in oils on paper, capture a sense of being alone in a big space and convey the warmth of wood tables and shelves full of books, but the text provides only an impressionistic and sketchy plot. Hermit Crab is missing from the puppet box after the librarian leaves, and Rabbit, who has been steeped in fairy tales, decides that she has been taken by a giant. Lion, more stolid and practical, finds a map that seems to point to landmarks within the building, but it tears as the friends pull at it. Lion folds the pieces into a boat, a sail, a captain's hat. Endearing as these puppets are to look at, they are frustrating to read about. The story reads, even aloud, like one improvised with puppets in hand: long on action and dialogue but with too many moments that pull against the center. Some of the magical elements seem inconsistent as well: Lion and Rabbit can sail the paper boat across the floor in the moonlight (the clock), but then dine on the remains of a real baloney sandwich and toast marshmallows over a lit match (in the library!!!). Overall, an appealing concept that doesn't quite live up to its magical promise.-Kathie Meizner, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Chevy Chase, MD (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
After the library closes, story-hour puppets Rabbit and Lion climb out of their box and search for Hermit Crab, who is missing. Tillotson gets the shadowy, quasi-creepy after-hours ambiance just right, but the promising premise is neutered by excessive onomatopoeia and other cutesy indulgences (""Icky-sticky gum""; ""way down to the bottomy-bottom""; ""Stop all that noisy-boisy racket!""). (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.
