Description
From School Library Journal Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2–It all begins innocently enough, when Violet the dog drops a fuzzy green tennis ball down a prairie-dog hole on the title page. When it finally lands deep in the underground tunnels, dozens of little dogs are gazing at it with trepidation. The biggest prairie dog of all, the bully Big Bark, comes to take a look, but before he can get close enough, Pip Squeak runs up to the ball and exclaims, âx80x98It's fuzzy!' âx80x98Oooooooh!' gasped the other dogs. Soon, they all begin adorning themselves with pieces of lime-green fuzz, ignoring Big Bark's commands that they stop this foolishness. Prairie dogs come from all over to help themselves until the ball is plucked bare. War breaks out, leaving Pip Squeak feeling rather guilty for starting it all. While the embattled dogs collapse in exhaustion, Big Bark steals all of the fuzz, proclaiming himself king of the fuzz, which makes him an easy target for an eagle, who swoops down and grabs him. Pip Squeak rallies the others to come to Big Bark's aid. The marvelously rendered mixed-media illustrations, with vivid blues, earthy browns, and that luminescent green, capture the true fuzzy nature and greenish glow of the ball. As in the author's popular Tops and Bottoms (Harcourt, 1995), this book employs both horizontal and vertical spreads, effectively taking readers deep into the underground realm. A wonderful addition for storyhours, this title will be requested again and again. –Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist PreS-Gr. 2. Only the Stevens sisters could create such an over-the-top tale about fuzz. A big, red dog drops a green tennis ball down a prairie dog burrow, and a "fuzz reaction" erupts there. Everyone--except Big Bark--wants to twirl and swirl the stuff all over themselves, from head to toe. When the ball is plucked fuzzless, a fighting frenzy breaks out. After the feuding stops, the dogs discover Big Bark has snatched the goods and proclaimed himself "King of the Fuzz," a title short-lived when a hungry eagle plucks him up for lunch. Never fear, however: Big Bark lives on to bark another day. The mixed-media illustrations are classic Stevens, with the book's oversize format providing wide-angle close-ups and a good platform for both horizontal and vertical foldouts. Big Bark's bottle-cap hat and the dogs' farcical expressions play up the humor in the text, but it's the textured, chartreuse fuzz that steals the show. This fun-filled story demands to be read aloud. Julie Cummins Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved JANET STEVENS is the author and illustrator of many popular books for children. Her picture books have garnered awards: including a Caldecott Honor, a Texas Bluebonnet Award, and an American Booksellers Book of the Year Honor. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. SUSAN STEVENS CRUMMEL is the author of a number of acclaimed picture books, many of which she's written with her sister, Janet Stevens. A former teacher, Ms. Crummel now spends her time writing and visiting schools as a guest author. She lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Read more
Features & Highlights
- Deep, deep down in their underground town, the prairie dogs live in harmony--until a mysterious, fluorescent, very fuzzy
- thing
- (otherwise known as a tennis ball) rolls down their hole. When the prairie dogs discover that they can pluck and pull the fuzz into fabulous fashions, their fear quickly turns to curiosity, then delight, then pure greed.The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.
