Pssst! by Adam Rex

From the Publisher

A child, a visit to the zoo, animals—sounds like good, simple all-American fun. But there’s something different about this zoo. These animals want things. Unusual things. What will they do with them?

Laughs, jokes, and surprises abound in this graphic picture book about a feisty, all-too-helpful little girl and her role in aiding and abetting zoo-animal shenanigans. Adam Rex once again reveals the hilarious hidden life of creatures we thought we knew well.

Publishers Weekly

A sort of Personal Shopper Dolittle, a zoo-going girl talks to the animals, but the novelty wears off when the pushy beasts send her on errands. She hears the first "pssst!" as she approaches the gorilla cage. "What's up?" asks the ape, idly scratching his ear. "Listen. Could you get me a new tire?" His swing is broken: "Get two, just in case." The pig wants trash cans, in metal and plastic, please; the sloths demand bicycle helmets. The shiny-faced girl goes from bemused to stoop-shouldered, but brings the goods in a wheelbarrow. Rex (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich) packs the increasingly crisp conversations into tight six-panel comics, relaxing into airy spreads as the girl meanders along zoo paths. He juxtaposes meticulous oil-and-acrylic portraits with stripped-down, architectural sketches and empty voice balloons that imply background chatter; the eccentric graphics suggest unfinished paint-by-numbers with a psychedelic edginess. Rex's animals pretend to be sprucing up their cages, but a subsequent picture of the menagerie in a dragster-cobbled together from the requested items-reveals their shrewd plot to break free. Rex conveys their personalities with an astringent attitude and a refreshing brake on the cuteness. A very funny excursion. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)

What People Are Saying

Kirkus Reviews
* “As if more proof were needed that Adam Rex has a strange and goofy mind, here’s a visit to a meta-fictional zoo with some uncommonly crafty residents. . . Rex gives the whole episode a surreal, expect-anything feel. . . .[A] gleefully postmodern romp.” (starred review)

Publishers Weekly
* “A sort of Personal Shopper Doolittle, a zoo-going girl talks to the animals, but the novelty wears off when the pushy beasts send her on errands. . . . Rex packs increasingly crisp conversations into tight six-panel comics, relaxing into airy spreads as the girl meanders along zoo paths. . . . A very funny excursion.” (starred review)

Product Details