All of which is to say, this one is in picture book layout and that's where it will go!
Like all her books, she uses simple language and minimalist art to create laugh-out-loud funny stories. Her latest works almost all tell the story through dialogue and speech bubbles, although the pages do not necessarily have comic panels.
This story starts when a rabbit, looking harassed and untidy, bemoans that they have a problem. Obviously, the problem is the toys and clothes spread out across the floor, although one could argue that living in a room all in shades of green, and owning only items in shades of orange and yellow might be a bit of an issue too... A voice responds from outside the window, "Problem?! Did I hear someone in there has a problem?!" and in pops... Porcupine Pete! He's there to solve Rabbit's problem, and at first his solutions sound good... but they all go wrong, very quickly!
He folds laundry... and feeds it to the goldfish! Stacks blocks and... flushes them down the toilet! Each fresh disaster is punctuated with Pete yelling "PROBLEM SOLVED!!!" and with Rabbit's frantic efforts to save their stuff. In the end, Rabbit manages to solve both the problem of the messy room and the problem of Porcupine Pete, although Pete isn't done helping creatures solve their problems quite yet...
Verdict: Simple text and illustrations are what make these titles so versatile. They make uproarious storytime read-alouds, and this one will definitely have both adults and kids giggling non-stop, but they are also accessible for beginning readers. Jan Thomas's books are always a must-have and the only drawback to this title is the paper-over-board format means that it will need to be replaced fairly soon, due to the many, many little hands that will be paging through it!
ISBN: 9781665939997; Published August 2023 by Beach Lane Books; Review copy provided by publisher
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