Review by Booklist Review
There are some amazingly wacky animals in this picture book: storks wearing top hats, a bike-riding pig in underpants, and a platypus on a treadmill. But let's back up. When an unnamed creature wakes up and looks in the mirror, he (or she) sees gray, wrinkled skin reflected back. The creature's not sure what he is and is counting on the reader to help decipher clues to figure it out. Hints in the text tell what the animal is not: I'm not a soft jellyfish crossing the street. / And I'm not a spittlebug keeping the beat. / I'm not a green frog in a flying machine. / And I'm sure not a skunk on a trampoline. The visual clues lead up to the big reveal. Yes, he's gray but he's a mouse! The rhymes are sometimes bumpy, but they're a ton of fun and sure to have instant kid appeal. The mystery is bolstered by Smith's humorous pen-and-ink illustrations and will keep kids engaged and happily guessing.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Smith's pen-and-ink creatures owe an acknowledged debt to Herriman's Krazy Kat gang-they have the same beanbag noses and beads of sweat jumping off them as they dash through their manic lives. The narrator, whose eyes are seen in a mirror but is otherwise off-camera, has undergone a Kafkaesque metamorphosis and asks readers to find out what it has become: "Am I somebody else? Will you help me out, please?" The pages that follow list a succession of oddball animals the narrator is not, and the alternatives Smith (Senor Pancho Had a Rancho) dreams up, like the underpants-wearing pig of the title, are plenty entertaining on their own. "Nor am I a cockroach," the narrator says as two cockroaches sitting companionably atop a toaster. "I love burnt raisins!" the first announces. "Me, too!" says the second. Enough hints are dropped to make the narrator's revelation that it's an elephant obvious, but there's another surprise in the wings. Really, though, it's Smith's nonexistent creatures ("I'm not an orange butterfly using a spoon./ I'm not a wet octopus playing bassoon") that are the story's true stars. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Billed as a mystery in rhyme, this book challenges readers to look and listen for clues to the identity of the narrator. Through the process of elimination, they learn many things it is not.a tall stork with spindly knees, a plump platypus watching its weight, an orange butterfly using a spoon, a skunk on a trampoline, etc. However, even if children spot all the clues (a trunk here, a love of peanuts there) and know what a pachyderm is, they will feel thwarted when it is revealed that "things are not always what they seem to be." The protagonist is simply wearing an elephant costume and is really a mouse in disguise. The full-page, brightly colored illustrations are packed with lively creatures and random comments, not all of which help the coherency of the story (cockroaches that love burnt raisins?). Readers will likely be intrigued by the title, and the word "underpants" is a surefire attention and giggle getter. More of a "Who is it?" than a "Whodunit?," the story is really a big red herring and an additional purchase for most libraries.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY (c) Copyright 2013. 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
An unseen narrator invites readers to discover its identity with spreads that include occasional visual hints and textual suggestions as to what it is not: "I'm not an orange butterfly using a spoon. / I'm not a wet octopus playing bassoon." The inconsistently metered rhymes are clearly a vehicle for cartoonist Smith's famously comical illustrations. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
How to solve the mystery of this identity crisis? "I looked in the mirror when I got up today / And saw that my skin was all wrinkled and gray. // Has my mirror become weird? Do I have a disease? / Am I somebody else? Will you help me out, please?" The only partially seen narrator promises each page will have clues to his identity and then begins a process of elimination. "I'm not a sad rattlesnake running away. / And I'm not a crocodile playing croquet." He's not a bumblebee or a cockroach or a platypus watching his weight, but he will eat any peanuts offered. "I'm not an orange butterfly using a spoon. / I'm not a wet octopus playing bassoon." He continues mentioning animals he's notuntil he thinks he hears someone mentioning "pachyderm." He may look like an elephant, but things aren't always what they seem. A zipper reveals the truth: a narrator who is just as gray as an elephant but far less wrinkly. Smith goes to town with his goofy guessing game. The thickly outlined, gleefully bizarro watercolor cartoons, some embellished with speech bubbles, extend the silliness of the animal examples in the narrator's "clues." Even with the cheat ending, audiences will enjoy the rhyme nearly as much as the foolish pictures. More fun than a pig in underpants. (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
