The Great Fuzz Frenzy

July 18, 2005
The Stevens sisters (Cook-a-Doodle-Doo
) prove that there's a lot of mileage to be gained from a wacky premise and some roly-poly prairie dogs. When Violet the pooch accidentally drops a tennis ball into a prairie-dog town, the rodents discover the malleable properties of the ball's light green fuzz and go wild: "They fuzzed their ears, their heads, their noses." In her full-bleed spreads (sometimes extending into a gatefold to play up the depth of the tunnels), Stevens likens the furry crowd to kids playing dress-up. The prairie dogs fashion Mohawks, tutus, superhero outfits and big fuzzy slippers from the stuff. Only one prairie dog seems immune: Big Bark, a blowhard with a bottle-cap hat. But Big Bark's disdain is just a front; when the other prairie dogs collapse from exhaustion ("Fuzzled out"), he steals all the fuzz—and turns himself into a blob of green that catches the eye of a prey-seeking eagle (in a bravura spread, its mass of black feathers morphs into a maelstrom of menace). Not surprisingly, the prairie dogs put aside their fuzz-based differences, and Big Bark finds a useful purpose for his belligerence. Stevens's watercolors make heroes of these curious critters. She plunges readers into an animated, earthy underworld, endows her furry cast with winning goofiness and turns the winged symbol of America into a figure of fear. Ages 3-7.

Starred review from September 1, 2005
PreS-Gr 2 -It all begins innocently enough, when Violet the dog drops a fuzzy green tennis ball down a prairie-dog hole on the title page. When it finally lands deep in the underground tunnels, dozens of little dogs are gazing at it with trepidation. The biggest prairie dog of all, the bully Big Bark, comes to take a look, but before he can get close enough, Pip Squeak runs up to the ball and exclaims, - -It's fuzzy!' - - -Oooooooh!' - gasped the other dogs. Soon, they all begin adorning themselves with pieces of lime-green fuzz, ignoring Big Bark's commands that they stop this foolishness. Prairie dogs come from all over to help themselves until the ball is plucked bare. War breaks out, leaving Pip Squeak feeling rather guilty for starting it all. While the embattled dogs collapse in exhaustion, Big Bark steals all of the fuzz, proclaiming himself -king of the fuzz, - which makes him an easy target for an eagle, who swoops down and grabs him. Pip Squeak rallies the others to come to Big Bark's aid. The marvelously rendered mixed-media illustrations, with vivid blues, earthy browns, and that luminescent green, capture the true fuzzy nature and greenish glow of the ball. As in the author's popular "Tops and Bottoms" (Harcourt, 1995), this book employs both horizontal and vertical spreads, effectively taking readers deep into the underground realm. A wonderful addition for storyhours, this title will be requested again and again." -Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2005
PreS-Gr. 2. Only the Stevens sisters could create such an over-the-top tale about fuzz. A big, red dog drops a green tennis ball down a prairie dog burrow, and a "fuzz reaction" erupts there. Everyone--except Big Bark--wants to twirl and swirl the stuff all over themselves, from head to toe. When the ball is plucked fuzzless, a fighting frenzy breaks out. After the feuding stops, the dogs discover Big Bark has snatched the goods and proclaimed himself "King of the Fuzz," a title short-lived when a hungry eagle plucks him up for lunch. Never fear, however: Big Bark lives on to bark another day. The mixed-media illustrations are classic Stevens, with the book's oversize format providing wide-angle close-ups and a good platform for both horizontal and vertical foldouts. Big Bark's bottle-cap hat and the dogs' farcical expressions play up the humor in the text, but it's the textured, chartreuse fuzz that steals the show. This fun-filled story demands to be read aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2006
When a dog drops a tennis ball down a prairie dog hole, the action begins: all the prairie dogs want a piece of the fuzz, though leader Big Bark warns them against it. Whimsical illustrations feature prairie dogs bedecked variously in the fuzz. The book's ending is slightly didactic, but the narrative nicely blends rhyme, alliteration, and other wordplay.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)