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Reviewed by:
  • Gnawing Around by Marcie Colleen, and: Knock Knock on Wood by Marcie Colleen
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor
Colleen, Marcie Gnawing Around; illus. by Steve James. Imprint/Macmillan, 2016 137p (Super Happy Party Bears)
Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-250-09807-8 $5.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-250-10674-2 $4.25 R Gr. 2-4
Colleen, Marcie Knock Knock on Wood; illus. by Steve James. Imprint/Macmillan, 2016 137p (Super Happy Party Bears)
Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-250-09808-5 $5.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-250-10675-9 $4.25 R Gr. 2-4

Good tunes, doughnuts, and a dance party? That’s all you need for a good time—unless you happen to be a Grumpy Woods resident, and then you’ll find all of the above to be a nightmare scenario. Mayor Quill (a porcupine both literally and figuratively prickly) hates fun, so for him having the Super Happy Party Bears in the neighboring Party Patch is downright horrible. Their insistent joy is annoying in and of itself, but they also have a strange affection for the mayor, relentlessly dogging him with cupcakes, cheerful songs, and, of course, invitations to dance parties. The bears do come in handy, though, when their oblivious enthusiasm drives out an intrusive family of prim and proper beavers, and when the bears’ ceaseless encouragement sends a loudly knocking woodpecker off to pursue its dreams. There is no end to the absurd humor, and the jokes are fast and furious: the Bears’ breakfast is a “bowlful of awesome sauce and a short stack of Hot Diggity Dogs!” and Mayor Quill’s decrees (“The welcome wagon shall be rolled off Grumpy Cliff immediately”) eventually reach the triple digits. In the copious illustrations, the creatures, simple figures (Quill is essentially a rotund circle with angry spikes) vibrating with energy, have an emoji-like quality to them; flat panes of color occasionally background the text. Though the vocabulary can be challenging, there’s a fair amount of repetition to spur on a transitional readers. The pure delight of the story will easily draw youngsters in and probably turn a few grumpy frowns upside down.

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