Review by Booklist Review
Who needs a bath? Skunk does because nobody's going to come to the surprise birthday party Bear is planning to throw for him unless he beats back that odorous green cloud of funk. Bear tries everything to get his reluctant friend into the water with a bar of soap, adding a swing, a trampoline, and a slide, but nothings works. Skunk, with his jaunty top hat and ratty attitude, is just too sly for cuddly old Bear, and he will not be conned into the pond. Mack uses bold pen and pencil lines for an old-fashioned cartoon effect that is reinforced by a fun color palette and lots of silly, slapstick action, which is heightened by over-the-top sound effects in expressive, colorful fonts. It's a good match for Skunk's wise-guy attitude and Bear's old-time naïveté. Little readers will giggle when they make the connection between Bear's jolly but strenuous exertions and similar It'll be fun! claims made by the grown-ups in their own lives.--Willey, Paula Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-There's a guidance lesson buried somewhere in Mack's second book about a cheerful bear and his malodorous and cranky skunk friend. Who will come to Skunk's surprise party if he doesn't take a bath? Concerned, Bear makes every effort to show Skunk how much FUN a bath can be, turning himself into a clownish victim when he catapults from a tree swing, bounces too high on a trampoline, and races down a water slide, all resulting in wet Bear. "See? This bath is fun!" he repeats after each mishap. But Skunk isn't convinced. "That bath does NOT look like fun." In a sudden outburst Bear reveals his concern.that no one will come to the party if Skunk smells bad. Hearing the word "party," their forest friends assume that a pool party was the plan all along. Even Skunk can't resist a pool party! Mack digitizes his pen and ink on paper illustrations and enhances them in Photoshop, resulting in a vibrant, layered and dynamic finished product. There's a lot of opportunity for predictive and participative reading in this winning title. Match it up with Joe Kulka's Wolf's Coming (Carolrhoda, 2007) for a little "compare and contrast" activity. VERDICT Charming and full of silly action, this book is sure to circulate.-Lisa Lehmuller, East Providence School District, RI © Copyright 2015. 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 this sequel to Who Wants a Hug?, Bear intends to surprise Skunk with a birthday party, but there's an impediment: the guest of honor stinks. Each of Bear's attempts to enliven the hygiene routine (e.g., "This swing will make your bath fun") backfires. A glorious Looney Tunes dynamic is achieved through the slapstick art featuring one repeatedly waterlogged Bear. (c) Copyright 2016. 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
Skunk may have gotten a hugbut he's still a stinker. Mack's effusive, hug-loving Bear returns, following his introduction in Who Wants a Hug? (2014). This time he wants to throw wily, standoffish Skunk a surprise birthday party. Skunk smells awful, though; none of the other woodland critters want to attend. Trying to keep the party both afloat and a secret, Bear suggests Skunk take a bath because baths are fun. Skunk will have none of it. Bear adds a slide to the swimming hole to make it look more fun, but Skunk sneakily makes sure it's Bear who gets wet. The additions of a swing and a trampoline don't entice Skunk to bathe, and Bear always ends up soaked and sudsy or worse. In his frustration, Bear lets slip about the party. Since he's in the swimming hole, all the critters think it's a pool party and happily jump in. Just as Skunk protests, a slip on some soap sends him on an awesome Rube Goldberg-esque tour of slide, swing, and trampoline. Skunk's birthday surprise is that Bear was right all along. Mack's bright, Saturday-morning-ready cartoon spots and full bleeds extend the silly story nicely. All (except Skunk) will easily see how much fun a bath can be. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
