Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

From the Publisher

Every child adores getting twirled and tossed by Mommy and Daddy. Again! Again, they squeal. That’s the rapturous joy Nicola Smee captures, in simple rhythmic text and charming pictures. One after the other, a group of barnyard friends climb aboard Mr. Horse for a ride. Faster, they beg…faster! But will “faster” lead to disaster? No…just a satisfying ending that toddlers will love.

Publishers Weekly

In this familiar tale, what Mr. Horse deems near disaster is just what his riders always wanted. When he asks, "Who wants a ride?" Mr. Horse has many takers among the barnyard's denizens Cat, Dog, Pig and Duck; "clip-clop, clippity-clop" acts as the tale's refrain. Much like a parent eager to satisfy his children's wishes, Mr. Horse agrees to their requests with some safety tips. "Up you get," he repeatedly responds, then "hold on tight!" when the child-like passengers beg him to go faster. Smee's bold black outline and watercolor wash portray the friendly characters against a vast white space, with Dog's wagging tail and the hero's hooves suggesting movement. But once Mr. Horse quickens his pace, the spreads mirror the intensity; the typeface increases in size, as does the image of the steed (with animals atop his back) galloping across the pages. When the four begin to lose their grip, Mr. Horse "skids to a halt!" and the riders tumble safely into a haystack. Though the horse's urgent cries of "Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dearie me!" echo those of a concerned caregiver, even youngest readers will appreciate the animals' exuberant chorus of "Again!" as they climb up for another ride. All ages. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Mr. Horse asks who wants a ride. One by one, cat, dog, pig, and duck climb on his back. When they ask to go faster Mr. Horse obliges, telling them to hold on tight. He gallops along, "clippity-clop," but is too fast for the animals who beg him to stop. He does so, and quite suddenly, causing them to "fly through the air…and land in a haystack." His concern turns to joy as they ask Mr. Horse if they can do it again. The italicized text and the illustrations of Mr. Horse's main flying in the breeze while the animals are trying to hold on tight give a great sense of fast movement. Just the right amount of tension paired with lots of repetition in a short text makes this appealing to the preschool crowd. The oversize book with its clean layout and black-outlined animals makes this well suited for a story hour with toddlers and preschoolers.

School Library Journal

PreS-K-This tale of an accommodating horse and his eager passengers elicits smiles from the get-go. Its cast of animals is a lot like a group of small children. When Cat gets a ride on Mr. Horse's back, Dog wants one, too. "`Up you get,' says Mr. Horse." Pig and Duck follow suit, and soon they're off and-hmm, "`Can you go a little faster, Mr. Horse?' ask Cat and Dog and Pig and Duck." As their friendly vehicle complies ("clippity-clop"), the riders look blissful and then ("clippity-cloppity") uneasy as they desperately hang on. "Whoa! Stop! We're falling off!" Concerned for their safety, the horse comes to a screeching halt. Oops: the animals go flying through the air. "Plop! Plop! Ploppity-plop!" As his friends struggle out of the haystack in which they landed, the horse hears the last word he expected from them: "Again!" With its simplicity of plot and design, lovable characters, repetitive sound effects, and captivating color illustrations, this laugh-out-loud picture book is first-rate.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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