Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

The masters of picture-book wordplay have spawned a new challenge.On the cover is a little brown-skinned child in a red-and-white–striped bathing suit, standing on the shore and evidently searching for something. Within, the child's questions are parsed one by one to make visual puns connected by various animals and sea creatures. The picture that accompanies "Who is being selfish?" shows a crab in a tug of war over a bucket with a large fish wearing a T-shirt emblazoned "I [heart] ME." "Who thinks it's too crowded?" depicts a boat overflowing with many creatures, including a crow. In the spread asking "Who is at the wheel?" an eel is steering a boat flying a modified Jolly Roger (it has a fish skeleton on it). But what do these seaside scenes have to do with finding a trumpet? The child's search is not for a musical instrument after all, despite the title, but a pet elephant! The animal names within each keyword are highlighted in red, and the clever illustrations play up the whimsy with details that embellish the fun. The third in this team's trilogy of wordplay, this book joins Where's the Baboon (2015) and Take Away the A (2014) to make a delightful, entertaining trilogy that is a salute to language creativity. Who's going to love it? Anyone with a keen eye and love of words. (Picture book. 5-8)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

K-Gr 2 In this third story in a "wordplay trilogy," the charming team of Escoffier and Di Giacomo ( Take Away the A and Where's the Baboon? ) transport readers to a brilliant sunny day at the beach. A series of questions with clues hidden within both text and illustrations create a sense of playful interaction for young and older audiences. Each spread contains one question in black text, with the answer to the query highlighted in red. For example, in "Who loves guacamole?" the word mole stands out in a vivid contrasting red. Meanwhile, an adorable mole in a striped bathing suit wraps his stocky arms around an immense avocado, hearts bursting above his head. Although other characters appear on the page, the textual and visual clues clearly suggest that the mole is the guacamole lover. While the animals provide answers through their antics, their faces add great expression and humor to the overall story. There's a selfish fish whose "I (heart) me" shirt clearly proclaims his values, and a disgruntled fly gruffly shouts out orders while his many limbs wave angrily, one clutching a whistle. Each seamlessly inhabits the ocean environment's muted palette, which features the recurring character of a young girl and her oft-repeated question, "Have you seen my Trumpet?" Her query and the setting connect the creative wordplay together until she at last finds the pet hidden in plain sight. VERDICT A stellar first purchase for all libraries, this delightful picture book emphasizes the clever play inherent in language and is a natural choice for storytime.— Rachel Zuffa, Racine Public Library, WI

ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

Escoffier and Di Giacomo head to the beach in this concluding volume to their wordplay trilogy. Following the same formula as Where's the Baboon? (2015), a simple question appears on each lively double-page spread, and readers can either discover the answer in the illustration or spelled out in the question itself. For example, "Who loves guacamole?" Mole, of course. And if the swimsuit-clad critter clutching a giant avocado doesn't give it away, the red lettering used on the mole in the word guacamole will. Things go steadily in this fashion until a little girl interrupts to ask a fish, "Excuse me, have you seen my trumpet?" He decidedly has not. The usual questions commence vealing a crow who thinks a boat's too crowded, and so on t then the girl reappears inquiring after her trumpet. Eventually, and with a bit of a twist, the trumpet is found. As with the other titles in this clever picture-book series, it works wonderfully for prereaders and readers alike, giving art and text equal footing and boasting an irresistible hook that keeps kids turning the page.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The masters of picture-book wordplay have spawned a new challenge.On the cover is a little brown-skinned child in a red-and-white–striped bathing suit, standing on the shore and evidently searching for something. Within, the child's questions are parsed one by one to make visual puns connected by various animals and sea creatures. The picture that accompanies "Who is being selfish?" shows a crab in a tug of war over a bucket with a large fish wearing a T-shirt emblazoned "I [heart] ME." "Who thinks it's too crowded?" depicts a boat overflowing with many creatures, including a crow. In the spread asking "Who is at the wheel?" an eel is steering a boat flying a modified Jolly Roger (it has a fish skeleton on it). But what do these seaside scenes have to do with finding a trumpet? The child's search is not for a musical instrument after all, despite the title, but a pet elephant! The animal names within each keyword are highlighted in red, and the clever illustrations play up the whimsy with details that embellish the fun. The third in this team's trilogy of wordplay, this book joins Where's the Baboon (2015) and Take Away the A (2014) to make a delightful, entertaining trilogy that is a salute to language creativity. Who's going to love it? Anyone with a keen eye and love of words. (Picture book. 5-8)