No Such Things

Bill Peet, whose many colorful picture-book adventures for children include such titles as The Wump World, and How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head (my personal Peet favorite!), here delivers a series of poetic profiles of imaginary animals. From the pie-faced Pazeeks, who manage, when eating, to

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look very much like slices of cheery pie with legs, to the fancy Fandangos (as seen on the front cover), who satisfy their vanity by gazing at their reflection all day, the creatures covered in No Such Things entertain both visually and conceptually. I think my favorite was the Flubdud, a creature who never moves, because he is standing on himself!

Young readers who enjoy encyclopedias of creatures who never were - think Georgess McHargue's The Beasts of Never - but who are at an earlier reading level, might enjoy this imaginary outing. The artwork is bright - trademark Peet - and will keep their attention, while the rhyming text will make for a fun read-aloud. This isn't a storybook, so I'm not sure that it would be a good selection for a story-hour, but for one-to-one bedtime reading, it should be a hit.

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Kids would probably like the nonsense - I personally didn't. I guess one could use it as a teaching tool - of course there aren't creatures like this because they wouldn't be *fit* (wouldn't live long enough to pass on their genes).

This is a very, very creative children's book. At the turn of every page, there is a new "animal" with a creative / wacky name and story. Illustrated to match the creativity. Awesome creativity! (did I say "creative" already?)