What the Fluffy Bunny said to the Growly Bear by P. Crumble

Ill. by Chris Saunders. Koala Books, 2018. ISBN 9781742761084
(Ages: 3-7) Rhyming Book. This is about a funny game of Chinese whispers and while amusing it doesn't quite hit the mark. "There's a surprise birthday party for Zebra. Wear a hat! Bring a cake! Pass it on." Each time the message is wrongly remembered with humorous results ("Wear a rat!", "Bring a snake!", etc). Young children will like the silliness of the concept as well as one of the last pages where all the animals turn up to the party (wearing meerkats, rats and acrobats and carrying snakes, shakes and rakes) but the final page tries to be a bit too clever and will probably go over their heads. It might even take adults a couple of reads to get the joke. This is a nice idea but lacks oomph at the end. In addition, the illustrations are disappointingly sparse and blandly coloured and the style seems inconsistent.
Nicole Nelson