Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review This book is just ducky! It's the cat's pajamas! In fact, it's more fun than a barrel of monkeys! These enthusiastic endorsements are among the many animal expressions defined in this unusual collection that maximizes the humor of sayings that are common to English usage but nonsensical if taken literally. And take them literally Leedy does in her hilarious art. A social butterfly wears a party hat and has a balloon; a clotheshorse is a handsome stallion, in a top hat and men's shoes, shown tying a tie. Even the page numbers are part of the fun; the number for page 24 appears in a 24-karat gold egg lying beneath the goose that laid it. This same bird is pictured with a thought bubble in which she imagines herself served on a silver platter: My goose is cooked. The illustrations continuously work together in this way--up, down, and across the double-page spreads, which are loosely arranged by themes according to their animal subjects, from house pets to farm stock to wild critters. To round things out, each boldface figure of speech or phase is accompanied by a succinct explanation, making the book useful for classroom enrichment as well as great fun for personal enjoyment. Even children older than the target audience will agree that this is, indeed, a volume to crow about!

Horn Book

This lively language arts lesson loosely organizes chosen idioms by such topics as "Around the House" and "On the Wing." Leedy and Street pack each double-page spread with twenty-odd turns of phrase, defining each briefly and furthering the definitions with an illustrative array of portraits, scenes, and mini-dramas that also provide textual and graphic cohesion. An index of the animals metaphor-ized is appended.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>As the subtitle indicates, this is a compendium of familiar and not-so-familiar sayings that have to do with animals, from "we're off like a herd of turtles" to "the tail end." The design is purposely busy, packing all 440 sayings into 48 meager pages by allowing them to spill onto the title page, index, and colophon, although most are confined to the body of the book and organized thematically, from "Around the House" to "Under the Waves." The sayings are illustrated by bright vignettes that differ in style to provide both variety and to suit the saying, and frequently interact. So, "as crazy as a cuckoo" is illustrated by a wacky-looking bird popping out of a classically Swiss clock; this contrasts with "Watch it like a hawk," which features a proud raptor with gaze fixed, X-ray visiona"like, on a "nest egg" filled with C-notes. Each saying is glosseda""Don't cast your pearls before swine" becomes "Don't waste something good on people who can't appreciate it"a"and these paraphrases very rarely rely themselves on idiomatic expressions, making them clear and easy to understand. An authors' note at the beginning explains the different types of sayings, from simile and metaphor to idiom and proverb. The serious philologist might wish for origins to the expressions contained herein, but there's only so much this perky little volume can do; as it is, it will provide substantial browsing pleasure to both animal lovers and children curious about language. The cat's pajamas! (Nonfiction. 6-10)</p>

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

Leedy (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Furry News) and Street offer a hearty roundup of animal-related idioms, similes, metaphors and proverbs, organized by habitat. The opening spread for "Around the House" depicts a house divided in fourths, with one canine upstairs waking another and the adage "Let sleeping dogs lie," plus its common interpretation, "<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Leave old problems alone." Downstairs in the kitchen, meanwhile, a beige pup tears at a "doggie bag/ <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">container of leftover food" while a Doberman begs across the table. Many of these expressions lend themselves to comic visuals, which Leedy ably provides. For the "On the Farm" section, a scowling fowl "as mad as a wet hen" bellows at a chick: "I don't want to hear another peep out of you!"; and a dazed-looking "sitting duck" with a bull's-eye on its chest remains sedentary as a web-footed peer squirts it with water. "In the Wild" arranges sayings around animals cavorting about the woods and savanna; airborne birds and insects spew remarks in "On the Wing" ("I was drawn like a moth to a flame./ <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">I was fascinated"). Though many of these expressions will be familiar to youngsters, other lesser-known phrases will enliven their vocabularies. Curious kids may wish that the origins of at least some of them were explained, but whether or not they think this volume is the bee's knees, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed readers should have a whale of a time perusing these diverting, creatively cluttered pages. Ages 6-10. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-Like a moth to a flame, readers will be drawn to this entertaining book. The sayings are loosely grouped by types of animals-domestic, barnyard, winged, etc.-and each adage is accompanied by a short definition. For example, "It's raining cats and dogs. It's raining hard." Numerous sayings are scattered over each spread and illustrated with small, full-color pictures in a variety of styles. While this format might seem overwhelming at first glance, children will pore over the pages. The collaboration of text and art makes the volume lively and humorous. The index is arranged by animal rather than by adage. This title is perfect for anyone who wonders about the meaning of everyday expressions, and it makes a good language reference tool. Readers might come to this book for a specific saying, but will find themselves captivated by the engaging text and great illustrations.-Susan Marie Pitard, formerly at Weezie Library for Children, Nantucket Atheneum, MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.