In Out to Lunch (1998), irrepressible little frog Joe is unable to sit still for lunch at a fancy restaurant, despite lessons in manners. He returns in this latest title to learn a few things about cleaning up. When Mother Frog tidies Joe's messy room, he's so delighted that he immediately starts to play in his clean new space, quickly creating another disaster zone. Mother cries when she sees her work undone, so Joe cleans his room himself . . . almost. Despite the end's heavy message, the simple, rhyming text will appeal to both story-hour groups and beginning readers. Little ones, and their harried parents, will easily spot themselves in the believable, anthropomorphic frogs tackling a common daily struggle, while the bright clean-lined drawings show Joe's world in realistic detail.

In his fourth book, Joe the frog learns that it isn't easy being clean. The moral ("Mom you're right. / It's true. / To really clean / UP it takes / two!") appears as a punch line tacked on to an everyday series of events (Mother picks up Joe's room, Joe messes it up, and then Joe straightens all by tossing his toys outside), and it makes for a weak joke. The illustrations show the brightly colored chaos of a toy-strewn room.

<p>Anderson's brightly colored cartoon art perks up this ages-old tale: Clean rooms are made to be messed. A clean room lets you find your toys, so you can pull them from their shelves and boxes and play with them, anda"you beta"dump them on the floor and under the bed and anywhere your attention gets distracted by another fun object. Which is exactly what Joe the young frog does after his mother spiffs up his chamber. "I have room to ride my train. / I have room to fly my planes," yodels Joe. And he does just that, as well as set up his car racing seta"wow, where did that come from?a"and fly his rocket and bounce on a bed that heretofore looked liked an overstuffed Dumpster. When his mother returns to his room, she has a look on her face that signals a distinct lack of oxygen. Says Joe, "Don't worry, Mom. I have the broom." He also has a very handy open window. He requests his mom leave the room and when he invites her back, why, there isn't a toy out of place. In the room, anyway, though the backyard could use some cleaning. Same as it ever was, and what can you do but laugh, asks Anderson, whose boy frog has dined in a restaurant, thwarted a babysitter, and avoided a bath in earlier adventures (Out to Lunch, 1998, etc.). Sure, a little cooperation makes the cleaning go that much faster. But, mom or dad shall ever push the broom, at least in the proper direction. A cautionary talea"for parents. (Picture book. 3-7)</p>

PreS-Gr 1-Like Jonathan London's Froggy, Joe is joyful and innocently mischievous. After his mother cleans his room, the little frog is so excited about having space to play and finding his toys that he messes it up again. Feeling guilty, he offers to pick up after himself and throws everything out the window. Mother doesn't get angry-she helps Joe restore order. The brightly colored cartoon drawings on white backgrounds include acute attention to details like the escaped pet lizard on nearly every spread and the names of the games in the closet. Told in rhyme, with essentially one easy sentence in large type per page, this all-around fun story for preschoolers is a good choice for beginning readers as well.-Sharon R. Pearce, Geronimo Public School, OK Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.