Clip-clop

In this familiar tale, what Mr. Horse deems near disaster is just what his riders always wanted. When he asks, "Who wants a ride?" Mr. Horse has many takers among the barnyard's denizens Cat, Dog, Pig and Duck; "clip-clop, clippity-clop" acts as the tale's refrain. Much like a parent eager to satisfy his children's wishes, Mr. Horse agrees to their requests with some safety tips. "Up you get," he repeatedly responds, then "hold on tight!" when the child-like passengers beg him to go faster. Smee's bold black outline and watercolor wash portray the friendly characters against a vast white space, with Dog's wagging tail and the hero's hooves suggesting movement. But once Mr. Horse quickens his pace, the spreads mirror the intensity; the typeface increases in size, as does the image of the steed (with animals atop his back) galloping across the pages. When the four begin to lose their grip, Mr. Horse "skids to a halt!" and the riders tumble safely into a haystack. Though the horse's urgent cries of "Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dearie me!" echo those of a concerned caregiver, even youngest readers will appreciate the animals' exuberant chorus of "Again!" as they climb up for another ride. All ages. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS-K-This tale of an accommodating horse and his eager passengers elicits smiles from the get-go. Its cast of animals is a lot like a group of small children. When Cat gets a ride on Mr. Horse's back, Dog wants one, too. "`Up you get,' says Mr. Horse." Pig and Duck follow suit, and soon they're off and-hmm, "`Can you go a little faster, Mr. Horse?' ask Cat and Dog and Pig and Duck." As their friendly vehicle complies ("clippity-clop"), the riders look blissful and then ("clippity-cloppity") uneasy as they desperately hang on. "Whoa! Stop! We're falling off!" Concerned for their safety, the horse comes to a screeching halt. Oops: the animals go flying through the air. "Plop! Plop! Ploppity-plop!" As his friends struggle out of the haystack in which they landed, the horse hears the last word he expected from them: "Again!" With its simplicity of plot and design, lovable characters, repetitive sound effects, and captivating color illustrations, this laugh-out-loud picture book is first-rate.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.