School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

PreS-Gr 2 This picture book presents 13 short rhyming stories about Billy and Milly. Most of them are four words long; some, only three. Every word in each selection rhymes. Gnat/Hat/Splat!/Flat. The bright cartoon illustrations done in mixed-media collage are the keys to understanding the stories and the humor. Page turns often play an important role in creating a dramatic ending. Both clever and slapstick, this book can be read for pleasure or used as a jumping-off point for thinking about rhyme, language, and story. Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Here's a clever concept book to pore over, laugh at, and try to imitate. In brief vignettes, three or four rhyming words tell a story. Collage illustrations help connect the words and encourage readers to guess what's coming next. Distinctive background colors--bright pinks, yellows, blues, and fuchsias--hold the individual tales together and signal readers when a new story has started.

Kirkus Reviews

The short-story and picture-book forms are taken to a new level with these 13 very succinct vignettes told in double-page spreads using only three- or four-word rhymes formed with nouns and verbs. For example, the first story features a round-spectacled Billy holding a basketball and Milly next door, each sitting on their respective "stoops" waiting for the ice-cream truck. Billy plays "hoops" while Milly eats her "scoops" until Billy's ball lands on Milly's cone: "oops." The four rhyming words are descriptive enough to emphasize action and reaction in a complete story, the main narrative thread of which depends on Mourning's cartoon-style illustrations done in a mixed-media collage. Feldman's choices of noun/verb combinations are not only clever but present a variety of amusing, imaginative and sensible scenarios. New readers will be able to visually move through the stories easily and will be encouraged to talk about the adventures and misadventures of these two friends after they read each rhyming set. A wonderfully playful introduction to language, rhyme and storytelling. (Picture book. 5-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Feldman (Animals Don't Wear Pajamas) uses just three or four rhyming words to tell each of the 13 (very) short stories starring the titular hero and heroine. In """"Bike/Spike/Hike,"""" Billy is stuck pushing his bicycle up a hill after hitting a tack-like object. """"Flame/Blame/Shame/Tame"""" finds Milly teaching a naughty dragon that it's not nice to barbeque someone else's toy; the dragon makes up for the transgression by giving Milly a magical ride on its back. While some of the stories are more successful than others, the diverse and often fantastical premises are entertaining, and all the vignettes are elevated by Mourning's (Princess Peepers) stylish artwork. The mixed media collages evoke a hip playfulness with a hodgepodge of typography and retro wallpaper textures, though the Bratz doll-like leads have a somewhat limited expressive range. While the stories are short, the book itself isn't short on ingenuity. Ages 3-5.