Why a Disguise?

From Publishers Weekly Less clever than some of her previous work, Numeroff's (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers) latest tale will still entertain fans. Kids will automatically warm up to her ingenuous narrator as he shows how a disguise is "a very handy thing to have around" and then outlines the do's and don'ts of deceptive dress. Donning a Groucho-style glasses-and-nose mask complete with an attached beard, the resourceful fellow demonstrates how such a disguise can help "you" avoid being told "It's your turn" by the dentist's nurse, let you off the hook when your mother tries to serve you lima beans and prevent visiting relatives from pinching you on the cheek and telling you how much you've grown. Youngsters will be tickled by the exaggerated power of this minimal disguise, which lets the boy hide his identity even from his parents. Yet it is McPhail's (Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore!) lighthearted watercolor art, flooded with droll visual tidbits, that will get the laughs here. A bathtime scene is especially funny as Mom casts a cool, appraising eye at the narrator, half-naked beneath his oversize beard. In the end, however, wholesomeness prevails: as the boy's parents tuck him into bed, Numeroff reminds readers that "it's nice to know that you're still you." Ages 4-6. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2?This story starts on the title page, when a young boy acquires a discarded mask (glasses, nose, and an attached beard). Next, he faces some of life's least-favorite challenges (meeting a bully, eating lima beans, being pinched on the cheek), and seems to successfully avoid them with the help of the disguise. Numeroff has again found the level of humor that so delights youngsters. They will laugh out-loud at the tricks brought to life in McPhail's playful ink-and-watercolor drawings. A good choice for story times and for sparking discussion of other handy uses of disguises.?Kathy East, Wood County District Public Library, OHCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.