Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Sweet dog Rocket returns, along with a cast of softly sold cuties. Rocket and his bird friend search for new words for their word tree (Drop It); Rocket selects "100 special things" for the hundredth day of school--but squirrel Bella can't resist eating a few items (100th Day). Hills's charming colored-pencil and acrylic-paint illustrations pair nicely with the absorbing easy-to-read texts.

School Library Journal (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

PreS-K In this easy reader, Rocket and the little yellow bird love to collect words for their word tree. Rocket is good at collecting (and dropping) things to add to their tree, until he meets a boot he doesn't want to let go of. He is offered a stick, a ball, and a sock until Bird discovers what he'd like more than a boota book! After Rocket lets go of the boot, everyone settles down to enjoy the new book. The last page shows their word tree with all the new words on itinspiration for a word tree of one's own? Rocket would like that. Simple, cartoon illustrations take children through the story and clearly show the plot. A good addition for emerging reader collections.— Melisa Bailey, Harford County Library System, MD

ALA Booklist

Cute doggie Rocket and the little yellow bird who teaches him are looking for words to add to their word tree. Rocket finds a leaf, a hat, and a star, and upon the command to "Drop it, Rocket," the good boy drops the item, which then becomes a word upon their tree. The internal rhyme of the repeated phrase "Drop it, Rocket" establishes a pleasing cadence. But then Rocket finds a red boot, and he does not want to drop it. The bird and Rocket's friends try to entice him to relinquish the boot by offering other items in exchange. Owl finally comes up with a winner: a book. Rocket drops the boot, and the friends settle down around him to read. The final image is the word tree with brand new words on it, which the reader will have become familiar with during the course of the story. Children familiar with Rocket from his picture-book adventures will be happy to see him at the early reader level, ready to take this linguistic journey with them.