ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2011)

In the tradition of Arnold Lobel's classic Frog and Toad series, this simple illustrated chapter book for beginning readers in the I Am a Reader! series is about animal best friends. And here the three stories about gorilla Tugg and monkey Teeny focus on the arts. In The Strange Stick, Tugg helps Teeny get her wish to make beautiful melodies by blowing on a bamboo stick, and music comes to the jungle. In What's in a Picture? all the animals find different images in Teeny's blurry picture, or pretend to. In Teeny's Poem, the first draft is not that good, but Tugg encourages Teeny to work on it, to write about what she knows best; and the climax is beautiful her title is, What it means to have a best friend. The clear, brightly colored pictures on each page show the gorilla in spectacles, helping the little active monkey impress the cheetah, hippo, and warthog. With the tender friendship drama, this is also a fun read-aloud for preschoolers.

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Following the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill, eleven-year-old aspiring ornithologist and "bird artist" Bouler created paintings in exchange for donations to the clean-up effort. Here she shares her love of birding, her own conservation efforts, and ways for others to take action. Though content is a little sparse, the book's message and design--including impressive original sketches--will successfully reach young environmentalists. Websites.

Kirkus Reviews

Another odd couple makes its foray into beginning-reader territory with three stories about Teeny the monkey's efforts to realize her artistic potential while best friend Tugg the gorilla cheers her on. When Teeny "hears the jungle birds sing," she wishes to make beautiful music. Denise's accompanying watercolor falls short of depicting a forlorn monkey, but text asserts, "Teeny looked so sad that Tugg decided he would help her get her wish." He finds a flutelike stick and places it in Teeny's path. She discovers it and practices, and ultimately her music inspires other jungle animals to take music lessons. Later attempts at painting and poetry aren't as immediately successful, which provides a certain distinguishing element to the book. The painting she produces is an abstract portrait of Violet the warthog, which no one initially appreciates. Animal friends laud her laborious effort to write four simple lines of poetry, and Tugg says, "you are on your way to becoming a good writer," a just-right assessment of earnest, though perhaps not terribly artful, results. Emergent readers will identify with Teeny as someone learning new skills, and her can-do attitude, emboldened by a supportive community, is a great model for attaining success. (Early reader. 6-8)

School Library Journal (Sun May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Gr 1-3 This beginning reader is divided into three chapters. Teeny the monkey and Tugg the gorilla are best friends. The first story is about Teeny's desire to create music. When she finds a hollow stick, Tugg suggests that she try blowing on the end to see what happens. She practices and practices in the jungle until she makes beautiful music. In the other stories, Teeny paints a picture but no one can guess what it is. And finally, she tries to write a poem, but it seems to fall flat on its audience. She works on it, tweaking the words and adding another verse until she is pleased. Tugg invites all of the animals to listen while Teeny reads her creation. These stories are simple, but lack energy. The humor is subtle and hardly giggle-inspiring. The cartoon artwork is colorful but somewhat generic. Mo Willems's easy readers are written with spare texts and illustrated with simple lines but every stroke is meaningful and humor pervades every page. Lewis's effort pales in comparison. Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren &; Waldoboro, ME