Don't Eat Bees

February 28, 2022
Chip, a white hound with a brown fur patch over one eye and a long, boopable snout, is a fount of knowledge—most of which, as conveyed by the previous collaborators (I Don’t Want to Be a Frog), “involves what to eat and what not to eat.” Actually, bees are the only item on the “don’t” list, oft repeated to comic effect. The litany of “do”s, on the other hand, includes unwanted food that Chip’s young light-skinned owner slips under the table (“Yes, peas, no bees”), Grandpa’s dentures, and cat food (“Who’s a dumb dog NOW, Mittens,” writes Petty, channeling the canine narrator’s snarl at a feline nemesis). Boldt’s signature sculptural dimensionality and flair for goofy expressions give readers much to savor in this character study masquerading as a handbook. En route to a sudden wrap-up, one vignette (“Do: Eat important papers!”) shows that dogs not only eat homework but do so with elan: a blissed-out Chip floats across the spread like a parade balloon as notebooks, papers, a backpack, and school supplies swirl in the air. Ages 3–7. Agent (for Petty and Boldt): Jen Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary.

May 1, 2022
A dog's guide to what to eat. Oblivious to the amusement--or, considerably more often, outrage--of the beige-skinned family in the background, an overstimulated pooch proudly tallies the "dog things" they know. These begin with "how cats are awfully self-important for animals who poop in a box" but go on quickly to proven or potential yummies, from socks and homework to cat food ("Who's a dumb dog now, Mittens?"), furniture, unguarded sandwiches, a whole turkey snatched off the table, and Grandpa's teeth. There are some no-nos, though, including lemons, lit candles, and most especially bees: "No sir! Never...ever...ever...//...again." Boldt brings suitable ballyhoo to his depictions of wild domestic carnage, and though he dials down the perpetrator's reaction to the bee experiment from realistic anguish to sheepish embarrassment, the scene with the dentures is hilarious, and the dog's expression after munching on a lemon will dry up plenty of viewers' mouths in sympathy. "I am a smart dog," the flop-eared foodie repeatedly proclaims. Readers seeing the pooch eagerly eyeing the potted cactus in the final picture may side with Mittens. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A chewy treat for dog lovers. (Picture book. 5-7)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 2 This romping read-aloud, by the duo that produced the popular I Don't Want to Be a Frog series, stars a mutt with a message for all other dogs: "Don't eat bees." The mutt, Chip, who has a wide circle around one eye and a huge snout, first establishes that he's smart. Chip knows that you can dig 30 holes for 30 bones or put all 30 bones in 1 hole. Experience has taught him that just about everything is on the menu for dogs, except for bees. Chip has an expansive list of what's fine for dogs to eat, including socks, homework, and the Thanksgiving turkey, but each cluster of "OK" foods is followed by the refrain "But not bees." Readers will start to suspect that Chip is a little obsessed with bees, and there's a comic sequence toward the end that shows just how Chip got that way. The bright, bouncy illustrations carry the hilarity; scenes like the wreck of the Thanksgiving dinner table abound. Funny and involving.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.