Review by Booklist Review
Bright-eyed squirrel Bruno and chipmunk Lulu share a day at the playground. An introduction reveals their differences, while other chapters show how they tolerate each other's preferences (Lulu likes mental games; Bruno likes action). They are bound together by a strong friendship that allows Lulu to go fast on Bruno's scooter and helps Bruno play Lulu's endless guessing and pretending games. In chapter one, when the selfish cats won't share their cake, Lulu makes a pretend cake using ingredients from the sand box. Though less imaginative, Bruno surprises Lulu with a real cake (with help from the ladybugs). Lulu is in time-out in chapter two. True-friend Bruno finds pretend games they can play. The colorful illustrations show action and the fast-moving exploits of the characters. Speech bubbles of different colors delineate the dialogue, making it useful for those who'd like to put on a mini-play. Expect to see more adventures about this duo for emergent readers.--Edmundson, Martha Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lakin (the Max & Mo series) and Edmunds (The Monster Who Lost His Mean) introduce two energetic friends: Bruno (a squirrel) loves "going too fast, swinging too high," while Lulu (a chipmunk who looks like a squirrel) prefers "to pretend, pretend, pretend." Reminiscent of the format of Mo Willems's Elephant & Piggie series, the text in this early reader consists of color-coded speech bubbles, letting the dialogue drive the action. In the first of two stories, Lulu and Bruno make pretend cupcakes in the sandbox after a group of cats refuse to share their real ones; in the second, Lulu tries to enliven her time-out on a playground bench with a guessing game, though literal-minded Bruno doesn't make it easy. Edmunds's digital cartooning capably brings these boisterous, wide-eyed friends to life, and she gives Bruno and Lulu a full, appealing world to play around in. The streamlined vocabulary, simple sentences, and word repetition are on-target for beginners, although genuine laughs are somewhat rare, and the friends' back-and-forth miscommunications become repetitive. Ages 5-7. Illustrator's agent: Teresa Kietlinski, Prospect Agency. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This simple, pictorial chapter book might capture the interest of newly proficient or reluctant readers. It features two friends who banter and bop around in a park. Bruno the squirrel "loves to go, go, go" and Lulu the chipmunk likes to pretend. Two rather lengthy, dialogue-driven stories about the pair are delivered in a bubbly, color-coded text-box style, which mimics text messages. In "Cake," the characters outwit a group of mean cats and take their picnic cakes even though they don't belong to them. The question of right and wrong is not presumed or even addressed. A slightly disjointed story line continues in "Time-Out." Lulu is in time-out on a park bench and cannot remember why or how long she is supposed to stay there. As in the first chapter, again a resourceful male, Bruno, saves the day for the dreamy and ditsy Lulu when he rides away on his motorbike and comes back with the news that Lulu's time-out is over. "How do you know?" she wonders. "I asked," is Bruno's simple reply. Edmunds's digital cartoons are bright and energetic and provide plenty of sight clues to reinforce the action. However, a slick and modern package can't rescue the pedestrian storytelling.-Ellie Lease, Harford County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2014. 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
In two silly stories, chipmunk Lulu and squirrel Bruno, imaginative friends who live on a playground, trick the mean playground cats out of their cupcakes and pretend to swing, slide, etc. while actually in time-out. The plot lines wander, but simple speech-bubble text makes this lengthy easy reader suited for shared reading; sunny digital art adds to the jovial tone. (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
All the playground's a stage for these two pals. A metafictive introduction to this title finds chipmunk Lulu and red squirrel Bruno breaking the fourth wall to introduce themselves to readers by revealing their respective attributes. Lulu's imaginative strengths end up being central to both of the ensuing storiesthe first about coveting cake and the second about making the best of a timeout punishment. Although he is decidedly less whimsical than his friend, Bruno patiently indulges Lulu's flights of fancy in both chapters, and Lulu also comes across as the "good friend" she declares herself to be in the introduction as she dreams up play scenarios. The text is delivered almost entirely in color-coded speech-balloon dialogue between the friends (yellow for Lulu to match her hair bow and blue for Bruno to match his glasses). This supports the cartoonish quality of the humorous, digitally rendered art, but some pages end up looking rather cluttered with a surfeit of balloons. The final two pages incorporate the text in the illustrations, presenting the words "THE END" in pebbles in the sandbox, but Bruno intercedes to scratch the word "NOT" above them, suggesting that more squirrely adventures await the friends in future stories. A playful, comic romp of a book for new readers. (Early reader. 7-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
