DON'T DO IT, DOUG!

A hamster with no self-control finds other outlets for his energies.

Cute but feckless Doug has never met the button he won’t push, the cord he won’t pull, or the canned goods display pyramid he won’t send crashing down. Compelled to eat every doughnut in the many boxes before him and to yodel in avalanche territory, he suffers the consequences—as do the hapless mountain climbers nearby. A helmeted insect (perhaps a bee or a hornet) wearing safety glasses tries to help when Doug expresses interest in raiding a beehive, but Doug charges ahead and gets stung. After he presses the lever on a reclining chair—and is flattened like a pancake between the halves—his insect friend takes him skydiving, then wakeboarding, and finally on a roller coaster. Doug realizes that there are other ways to get thrills, and he seems able to control his impulses. His friends congratulate him: “Nothing can tempt you now.” But as we see Doug holding a stick near a sleeping bear, they add, “CAN it?” Beedie’s art pairs flat or stylized backgrounds with close-ups of furry, cuddly Doug, keeping the focus sharp. Readers will enjoy repeatedly echoing the title admonition and will gleefully note that instant karma falls on the little rodent when he doesn’t listen.

Grand fun that allows young readers to feel in control.