IN A PATCH OF GRASS

A funny, rollicking take on a natural-history picture book, designed to entertain kids and the adults who read to them.

Good, smart, cheeky fun! David 'Antenborough' narrates this picture-book send-up of a nature documentary, sounding just like the real-life David but with more gesticulations, since he has six limbs at his disposal. Director Stephen 'Spielbug' tries to keep the cast of characters on task, but it's worse than herding cats: The orb-weaving spider would like to eat one or two other actors; the grasshopper is a diva; the worm is too busy munching dirt to act on cue; the robin has joined a union; and the slug is too embarrassed by his slime to perform. As David and Stephen near the wrap-up, filming is interrupted by a whuffling noise and then a foul-smelling hurricane, and Fido the dog sniffs his way through the grass and onto their set. The panicked actors flee at top speed (which is not very fast in the slug's case), but the intrepid Antenborough continues narrating, Spielbug keeps directing, and they bring the film to a dramatic conclusion. Despite the chaos - or maybe because of it - we learn some things about these animals, and backmatter nature facts give us more. Fran Hodgkins is the author of more than 20 books for young readers, including The Whale Scientists, a Junior Library Guild selection, and How People Learned to Fly. Her book The Secret Galaxy (Tilbury House, 2014) was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, and a California Reading Association Eureka Gold Award winner. Dan Tavis is the illustrator of Common Critters (Tilbury House, 2020), The Whale Fall Café (Tilbury House, 2021), and Fluffy McWhiskers and the Cuteness Explosion (McElderry Books 2021) and indulges his passion to illustrate characters that emotionally connect with the viewer and tell stories through visual narrative. Dan creates illustrations with watercolor, ink, and digital media.