MINNIE AND MOO: THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING BED

Cazet releases the breaks in this latest installment of early-reading tomfoolery. It’s Halloween and Minnie the cow is having a bad dream: A giant mouse is eating the last piece of chocolate in the world. She tosses and turns and starts hammering on Moo, the bull with whom she shares the bed, a bed that starts rolling down the hill from its perch under a meadow tree, gathering farm animals as it speeds through the barnyard, and coming to rest in town. To soothe Minnie’s chocolate angst, the animals go door to door, performing tricks to get treats, until Minnie corners enough chocolate to rest assured. There are good and loopy side events throughout the story and Cazet keeps the language droll and dry. When the sheep accidentally get wet, a woman tries to identify the crew at her Halloween door: “Don’t tell me!” she said. “I know! Sponges! Four cows, a pig, and two walking sponges! You children are so clever.” Clever and hilarious. (Easy reader. 4-8)