TOUCANS, TOO

Cockatoos and their toucan buddies (Cockatoo, Too, 2015) are once again the stars of a wacky adventure.

This time the silliness involves two toucans’ misinterpretation of the cockatoos’ intentions regarding two cans. Each of two cockatoos brings a can of food and a large cooking utensil to a wooden bowl sitting on the jungle floor. As they pour the food into the bowl, they spot the toucans, who hear them say “Toucans, too,” but think they said “Toucan stew.” Naturally the toucans run for their lives as the cockatoos give chase, trying desperately to clear up the misconception. Reassured, the toucans come back in a canoe with two cans of their own. Readers will need to watch out for the gnus as they start out across the water and come closer and closer with each development so they might share in the stew too. A very few words in various combinations are arranged, in large, widely spaced type, across double-page spreads on white backgrounds. The setting is filled with many shades of green, inviting blue water, and a softly clouded sky. The creatures express their emotions with changes in their eyes and beaks. The toucans appear especially demented as they put on the brakes when they visualize toucan stew. And then there are the cuckoos. The words twist, and the fun escalates.

Wonderfully wacky.