IF ALL THE ANIMALS CAME INSIDE

A young boy imagines the riot that would ensue if his house were overrun with wild animals.

“The lions would roar as they sprawled on the floor. / The lemurs would lollygag right by the door. / My daddy would try to sit down in his chair. / He’d holler and whoop with a porcupine there!” The hodgepodge of animals ranges from forest chipmunks and savanna giraffes to Australian kangaroos and even an octopus. And they all come with mischief in mind. Pinder neatly describes the chaos that this bunch could cause. From ruining the furniture and eating all the food to taking up the comfiest places, they would eventually leave no room for the boy and his family, relegating them to sleeping outside. And in fact, the boy wisely decides in the end that, as much fun as all the animals might be, he will be satisfied with just his cat and dog. The rhyming verses have a nice rhythm, and a repeated refrain allows listeners to join in. Brown uses a similar style to his illustrations in Lindsay Craig’s Farmyard Beat and Dancing Feet (2011, 2010), but the corrugated-looking collages that incorporate photographic elements are not as successful here. The details tend to get lost in all the texture. Still, the animal antics are priceless, and the boy’s transformation from joyful participant to disgruntled observer is easy to see.

All the fun of imagination without the mess of reality.