Review by Horn Book Review
A red-haired child introduces the picture book's topic forcefully with a large word balloon before the title page: "What? YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANIMALS IN PANTS?!?" Twenty-three very short and funny poems cover a wide variety of animals and the many types of pants they might wear. For example, the "downward dog" wears yoga pants while the polar bears wear snow pants, of course. The poems are both silly and clever, as in "Deep Thoughts," where the speaker wonders, "If a snake yanked a sock to his face... / would we say 'pant' in that case?" The vibrant Photoshop illustrations are filled with textures and patterns, resembling a combination of collage and stamped art. The palette features orange, teal, yellow, and green, with lively postures and expressions on each of the dozens of animals' faces. A final poem goes on for four pages with animals waiting and waiting for the tailor who is working on their pants, concluding, "The good news? / He's fast for a sloth." At the end, the red-haired child is back hinting at a sequel: "What? YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANIMALS IN HATS?!?" (c) Copyright 2023. 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
In this collection of poems, rhymed commentary sets off a menagerie of elegantly attired fashionistas strutting their stuff. "Far below a barren field that's looking fairly frozen / groundhogs dance the polka in their cozy lederhosen." With sure command of metrics as well as excellent comic timing, Levinson dishes out pithy observations on animals from "Lions and tiger and bears (oh my!)" to snakes and spiders, all striking poses in the Howdeshells' flat, screen print--style fashion plates. If some choices of attire do not come off as well ("Cheetahs in leopard-print leggings? / So sleek! / Horses in zebra-print jeggings? / Trés chic! / Porcupines stuffed into unitards? / Eek"), still, the deer and antelope leaping balletically in sweatpants, gyrating "King-aroos" in sequined jumpsuits and "blue / suede / shoes," and a trash can tableau of "raccoons… / in fine pantaloons" exude élan as seemingly effortless as the rhymes. Nor is outerwear all that's in the closet: "Do you wonder / what is under / every turtle's shell? / Underpants are what is under. / Undershirts, as well." Those shells probably chafe something fierce. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A tailor-made parade for younger clotheshorses. (Picture book/poetry. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
