The Secret Plan

November 1, 2009
PreS-Gr 2-Milo the elephant loves playing with his feline neighbors Henry, Hildy, and Harriet, but something always seems to interrupt their fun, especially bedtime. So they try every way they can to get around it. Things don't go so well (though the image of Milo painted to blend into the wallpaper is bound to inspire giggles). At last, they find "the perfect late-night no-bedtime-ever hideout"the attic, which also happens to be full of neat stuff to play with. But sleep must come to even the most intrepid explorers, and so their night turns into a slumber party, heavy on the slumber. The age-old dilemma of wanting to stay up and play just a bit longer finds a gently humorous treatment in this tale, accompanied by swirly acrylic paintings that evoke dreamy nighttime fantasy."Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2009
Preschool-G Harriet, Hildy, Henry, and Milo, three kittens and a baby elephant, want nothing more than to play uninterrupted. But various nuisances continue to sidetrack them. The biggest offender is bedtime, so the friends devise a secret plan to avoid it, which doesnt quite work out as expected but is satisfying nonetheless. This is an enjoyable, inventive offering that incorporates single- and double-page spreads focused on the activity of the four friends, as well as comic-style acrylic illustrations that include cross-sections of a townhouse that allow for multiple scenes to play out at the same time. In addition, speech bubbles that indicate parents calling for the young characters literally break into the textand, consequently, the funand there is a certain conspiratorial amusement as the reader or listener is allowed in on the secret plan, as long as they dont tell. Charming and genuinely funny, this will appeal to a wide audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Young elephant Milo and his three kitten neighbors hate bedtime and other parent-enforced intrusions, so they conspire to hide; their efforts are comically unsuccessful, as rendered in Sarcone-Roach's considered acrylics. These spunky characters may live like humans, but they don't wear clothes--which makes for cutesiness-free illustrations but leads to the occasional difficulty distinguishing the kid characters from the adults.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)