Nothing at All! by Denys Cazet, Denys Cazet (Illustrator)

Publishers Weekly

Animated, large-scale illustrations convey most of the humor in Cazet's ( ``I'm Not Sleepy' '; Born in the Gravy ) slight yet peppy tale. Perched on the arm of a scarecrow, a rooster with a megaphone issues his traditional wake-up call, and the animals respond with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The horse announces, ``I slept like a filly!'' but the cow ``woke up with a kink in her back, indigestion, a headache, an udder attack.'' The scarecrow, however, says ``nothing at all.'' His silence ends after a cat decides to breakfast on a mouse--who in turn seeks refuge in the scarecrow. Suddenly, the straw-stuffed creature exclaims: ``THERE'S A MOUSE IN MY PANTS!'' The text's tempo picks up as Cazet describes the scarecrow's antics: ``He pursed his lips / And jiggled his hips / And performed three backward / Double back flips.'' These acrobatics leave him headless and unstuffed (which may upset the littlest listeners), but the scarecrow does pull himself back together. The scarecrow's eyes bulge in shock; anxious pigs suck on their hooves--loopy exaggerations nicely geared to preschoolers. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

PreS-K-A rooster wakes the barnyard with a megaphone, and in rhyming couplets accompanied by double-page watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, Cazet shows each animal's reaction. If this sounds like just another pleasant animal tale, forget it! From the cover illustration, depicting a sleepy-eyed cow in a flowered cap preparing to turn on the shower, to the last page, readers are in for a zany morning on the farm. This story has everything: rhyme, repetitive language so helpful to beginning readers, humorous illustrations that capture each creature perfectly, and, best of all, a surpise ending. Animal responses in bold print or italics invite children to assume the different roles. And they're sure to join in with ``Nothing at all!'' in response to the repeated question of what the scarecrow in the meadow has to say about all the confusion. Another Cazet triumph that will delight audiences!-Marianne Saccardi, Whitby School American Montessori Center, Greenwich, CT

BookList

In most farm scenes horses neigh, cows moo, and chickens cluck--all very discreetly--while scarecrows say nothing at all. Unless Cazet is writing the scene. When that happens the scarecrow makes more noise than all the animals put together because he has a mouse in his pants. After all, what else would one expect in a land where a cow wears a shower cap, the rooster carries a megaphone, and sheep sleep in pajamas? In this silly picture book, each farm character and its corresponding animal noise is introduced in a rhyming passage, followed by the repetitive phrase "out in the meadow, the breeze strolled by, and the scarecrow listened." Then comes the question, "Can you guess what he said?" Cazet plays a guessing game with youngsters--one they will respond to--and rewards them with a colorful cast, a lively scarecrow rap, and a surprise ending. It's not one of Cazet's typical elementary school scenes, but it's just as much fun.

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