In the picture book world, a very simple idea that's executed well can easily turn into a neat little read. Which is what we found in "Pass It On". A cow gets her bottom stuck on a fence in the back of the farmyard. A bee discovers the cow's plight and tries to rally the other animals to come help. But as they "pass it on", they all get the message more and more wrong. In the end - mouse, pig, kitten, hen and everyone else show up on the scene; all expecting to see something different. Thankfully, they all work together to free the poor cow and everyone is happy in the end, pun intended. The illustrations are full of bright, cute animals and there's plenty of nice white space throughout the book, which keeps everything looking clean and tight. Our kids liked the funny phrases each animal said as they kept getting the words wrong. They soon had them memorized and would shout the phrases aloud as we read along. The phrase "pass it on" has some great repetition in the story, adding to the fun of the book. Simple, short, sweet, cute and all-in-all a fun one to read aloud to younger picture book lovers! Horn Book (Fall 2012)Cow is in trouble, and it's up to Bee to get the message to the other animals, but chain-reaction misunderstandings recalling the children's game telephone interfere ("Cow is stuck in the fence" becomes "Cow put a duck in the tent," etc.). The hoped-for twist never materializes, but the humor and up-tempo illustrations carry the story to its pleasant-enough conclusion.Kirkus Reviews starred (May 15, 2012)Sadler gives cockamamie treatment to this barnyard variant on the game of telephone. "Cow is stuck in the fence." Or was it "Cow and Hen had good luck"? No matter: "Pass it on!" Now it's "A good duck gave cow a penny." The game is one of those deeply amusing exposs of the corruption of information as it is passed along. Sadler's approach to the game is humorous and artful: She twists and fractures the words in delightful fashion, sometimes from what appears to be mishearing, sometimes from embroidery or exaggeration. The cumulative errors result in a fine and farcical ending. Without putting a heavy hand on the proceedings, Sadler illustrates just how inaccuracies in communication can lead to utter balderdash, as they might in gossip and rumormongering. Slack's accompanying artwork crackles with energy and color, and the barnyard creatures have a high degree of personality. Each instance of passing it on has at least two windows of activity, one depicting the act itself and the other what the corruption would look like. Though it is supposed to be a silent game--and here it is anything but that--this rendering of the childhood favorite captures the essence of its illuminating comedy. (Picture book. 4-8)Library Media Connection (January/February 2013)The old game of Telephone is inadvertently played across the farm. When Cow is stuck in the fence, it's up to Bee to organize a group to help-but the message Bee delivers is not quite the one that is received by the other animals. Bright, cartoony animals provide energy, and much of the dialogue is written in bubbles; the simple text will appeal to new readers, while younger children will simply enjoy the animal antics. What a fun choice for sharing with a group; just be prepared for whispered games and giggles! Susan A.M. Poulter, Cataloguing Librarian, Nashville (Tennessee) Public Library. RECOMMENDEDPublishers Weekly (April 16, 2012)When Cow gets stuck in a fence, Bee springs into action: "Bee buzz-buzzed to Frog's pad and said: 'Cow is stuck in the fence. Pass it on!' " As the message travels, however, it gets mangled beyond recognition. "Cow has money. Pass it on!" shouts wide-eyed Kitten to Mouse, who's hanging out in the cupboard with the canned veggies and tuna. As befits the vintage nature of the game of telephone, Slack's (Monkey Truck) artwork conjures images of early Golden Books like The Little Red Hen and The Poky Little Puppy. Frog, sitting on a lavender mushroom playing with a yoyo, has appendages reminiscent of a 1950s atomic starburst design; bright blue Goose strums a guitar in a finale that has the animals celebrating Cow's eventual rescue with a milk-and- honey party in the barn. Sadler (the P.J. Funnybunny series) writes economically while maintaining a sense of both urgency and comedy, the latter surfacing in speech-bubble asides, as well as the catapult-to-the-butt that eventually frees Cow. Ages 4-up. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.School Library Journal (August 1, 2012)PreS-Gr 1-The game of telephone gets awkwardly rehashed in this appealing if unoriginal collaboration. Bee looks everywhere for Cow, who turns out to be stuck in the fence. To get help, he goes to Frog and tells him Cow's predicament, requesting that he "pass it on." Frog goes to Pig and says, "Cow put a duck in the tent. Pass it on!" Pig tells Goose an entirely different story, etc., until all the animals converge on the cow for various reasons, help push her out of the fence, and she and Bee reward everyone with milk and honey. The story is slight, but the minimal text reads aloud smoothly, albeit with a few superfluous uses of so-and-so "said." However, literal-minded youngsters may wonder why Bee didn't just request help from each animal directly, and the outrageous changes each creature makes strain credulity. The artwork is bright and modern-looking, with bug-eyed, cartoonish animals depicted in bold colors. Slack takes full advantage of the absurdity here by placing each animal's bizarre statement in a dialogue bubble. The simple text and large illustrations lend themselves well to reading aloud, and the word bubbles have the potential to encourage use by emergent readers. Unfortunately, the omission of whispering adds to the lack of internal logic. However, this would be useful in a classroom discussion of good listening skills and accurate message delivery. Fun, but additional.-Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
What do You think about Pass It On! (2012)?
A game of telephone with animals. Great illustrations that are bright and colorful and cartoonish.
—aubree
Entertaining rendition of the Telephone Game with fun pictures!
—danielle
Giggle worthy story I think older kids will love.
—myang
Jasmine loves silly books like this. :)
—theSamslovereading
