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Summary
Summary
What do your toys do when your back is turned? Mischief -- and a bit of wish fulfillment -- are in play when a ringleader teddy bear throws a very memorable party.
Have you ever wondered what stuffed animals do while their companion humans are at school? What if a teddy bear invited all his stuffed animal friends over? Imagine the wild party that might ensue, complete with jumping (a little too hard) on the bed, coloring on the walls, dressing up in Mom's clothes, having a bubble-bath sliding contest in the hall, sledding down a "cushion mountain" on a cookie tray. . . . As adorable as it is raucous, Jancee Dunn's whimsical tale of freedom and fun comes to vibrant life in Scott Nash's colorful illustrations.
Author Notes
Jancee Dunn has written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Vogue, GQ, and O: The Oprah Magazine, as well as many books for adults. I'm Afraid Your Teddy Is in Trouble Today is her first book for children. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.
Scott Nash is the creator of the illuminated middle-grade novel The High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate, the early reader Tuff Fluff: The Case of Duckie's Missing Brain, and Shrunken Treasures, a collection of seriously abridged classics. He is also the illustrator of Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields and many other children's books. He lives on Peaks Island off the coast of Portland, Maine.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This picture book frames the misbehavior of a rambunctious teddy bear with two police officers responding to noise complaints from angry neighbors. As near as the officers can tell, the ruckus started shortly after the bear's owner left for school. Teddy called their friends' stuffed animals and invited them over for pancakes, drawing on the walls, a bubble bath sliding contest, and a dance party. Ultimately, the teddy bear is too cute and inspires too much nostalgia for the officers to take him to the station like a hardened criminal and he is let go with a warning, although readers will not have much reason to hope he will mend his naughty ways. The two police officers, a black woman and a white man, are most often depicted against a white background, in contrast to the colorful and chaotic representations of the stuffed animal party. The pages are crowded with a variety of stuffed animal characters including rabbits, elephants, and tigers, and the spreads represent a visual game of I Spy. VERDICT A humorous tale of stuffed animal mayhem that will entertain early elementary students and provide a fun read-aloud for younger children.-Kelly Topita, Anne Arundel County Public Library, MD © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The mischievous antics of a teddy bear and his stuffed friends draw the attention of the police in this raucous story, the first children's book from adult author Dunn (How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids). Addressing readers directly, one of two police officers on hand reconstructs the crime scene: "As near as we can figure, the party started shortly after you left for school," the female officer explains. She goes on to delineate how-among other things-the teddy bear and some two dozen stuffed friends broke the bed jumping on it, drew all over the walls, "pour[ed] bubble bath all over the floor for a sliding contest," and threw a dance party, complete with 100 balloons. Energetic digital artwork by Nash (Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp) captures the toys' unleashed joy as they make the most of their unsupervised freedom. The officer lets the bear off with a scolding, but his wink on the final page suggest that he's far from reformed. With Dunn and Nash as guides, readers will revel in the vicarious, rule-breaking fun. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Two police officers outside a house break some bad news to "you": "I'm afraid your teddy got in a little trouble today." The next double-page spreads of the gleeful digital illustrations show the resulting unsupervised chaos. The text's deadpan tone makes the pictures all the funnier, and kids will love imagining what their stuffed animals might do if they decided to have a party. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
What happens when over 25 stuffed animals go wild? Officer Hardy and her partner will be glad to show you! Dunn and Nash introduce readers to a very naughty teddy bear whose antics would put most fraternity-house parties to shame. While Teddy's owner is away from home, Teddy invites all his stuffed and plush friends over for a day of over-the-top fun. A bed is destroyed, underwear is worn atop heads, and chocolate sauce is used to make one of the messiest (and most delicious) baths/pool parties ever. It's the kind of mischievous fun that would make most preschoolers squeal with joy and most parents moan as they consider the cleanup costs. Dunn's story, related in the second person to the owner of the delinquent toy, is farcical, but readers may wish for more interaction than they get. The sequence about the broken bed is most successful; the police officers are depicted amid the party's aftermath on the recto, allowing readers to guess what happened before the page turn. Nash's digital illustrations capture the zany day in an engaging color palette, but the use of white space on many of the pages creates an austere contrast to the full-color tomfoolery of the party. Although there are only six humans in the story, Nash uses them to highlight the diversity of Teddy's neighborhood; investigating officer Hardy is a black woman and her subordinate a white man, in an especially nice touch. A fair if somewhat ephemeral story. Readers looking for humorous antics may find more shenanigans in No, David! or Officer Buckle and Gloria. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
