Review by Booklist Review
Bear Cub wakes up one morning and sees a pair of underwear hanging on a tree branch right over his cave. No name tag. No clues. Someone has lost their underpants! He diligently begins searching the forest, but squirrel underpants have tail holes, owl underpants are sparkly, salmon wear swimsuits, snakes wear long underwear, and everyone knows bat underpants glow in the dark. As Bear Cub reaches the end of his journey, he is in for a surprise: they've been his underpants the whole time! There's solid repetition in the dialogue that lends itself well to reading aloud and child participation, including the titular line, and there are certainly some giggles to be found in the content. The palate is muted, keeping with lemon yellows, pale greens, and sherbet pinks, which allows the underwear reveals to really pop. While it isn't necessarily a new or innovative story, it's a solid contribution to that important children's book category, Adorable Animals Wearing Underwear, and many kiddos will be tickled to have another underpants book to chuckle over.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When Bear Cub finds a pair of tighty-whities hanging on a tree limb, "No name. No tag, " he decides to find the owner. And that means readers get a comprehensive, played-straight-but-giggle-inducing tour of animal tushies, each one covered with an undergarment befitting anatomy, habitat requirements, or individual style. Snake wears "looooong" underwear that looks like a tube of red striped flannel; Bat's underwear glows in the dark of a deep cave; and Moose flashes a toothy grin when he shows off "EXTRA LARGE" red undershorts emblazoned with pink hearts. And the plain pair? Attentive readers will note that Bear Cub himself isn't wearing any underwear, and Mom--confusingly, not wearing any herself--gently reminds the ursine youth she washed and hung his pair on the tree limb the night before. Martin (Tessie Tames Her Tongue) builds in pleasing narrative rhythm through the repetition of Bear Cub's friendly interrogation ("Hi Moose. Are these your underpants?" "No... Those are not my underpants." "Are you sure?") that leads up to each undergarment's reveal, while Cummings's (the Notebook of Doom series) bold graphic pictures, reminiscent of vintage national park posters, create a colorful and benevolent world for Bear Cub and readers to explore together. Ages 3--7. Author's agent: Mary Cummings, Betsy Amster Literary. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Will Bear Cub ever find the owner of the pair of underpants hanging in the tree outside his cave? His distressed expression will show readers that he takes this job seriously--someone somewhere has a bare bum. In a pattern that repeats, Bear Cub asks his friends in turn if the tighty whities happen to belong to them. When they say no, he asks, "Are you sure?" and they give the reason why they can't possibly be theirs: There's no hole for Squirrel's tail, Bat's underpants glow in the dark, they smell too good to be Skunk's, and Salmon wears a swimsuit instead. They don't belong to Turtle, Owl, Snake, Beaver, or Moose, either. So, Bear Cub heads home…to a surprise (maybe not for close observers) revelation from Momma Bear, who, strangely enough, wears no underwear herself. The diversity of underpants on display will keep readers in stitches, and the animals' reactions to Bear Cub's inquiries about something so personal are both very funny and so true to life for kids: Turtle seems almost prudish, Salmon is joyfully matter-of-fact, Skunk seems proud of their characteristic trait, and Beaver is terribly shy. Though those reading aloud may get tired of the word underpants, repeated 34 times not including the title, kids will find it hysterical, and the repetition supports new readers. Sure to have kids imagining what kinds of underpants other species might wear. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
