Drip, Drop

August 24, 2000
K-Gr 2-Poor Pip Squeak, a long-nosed, beady-eyed mouse, can't sleep because his roof is leaking. As he lies in bed, first a drip hits him on his head, then his foot, and then his chin until his bed is covered with pots and pans. As the leaks multiply, the water fills all of his containers from tub to shoe, from hat to glass, until finally the weary rodent's home is nearly submerged. Just as he hangs his head in defeat, the sun comes out and the drips stop as suddenly as they started. While his friends now want to jump in puddles, Pip just wants to jump back in bed. Rhyming text and the repetition of a couple of key phrases ("Drip! Drop!/Plip! Plop!") make this title effective as a beginning reader. Short, simple sentences keep the action moving along while a single problem focuses readers' attention. The snappy narrative is coupled with expressive, silly illustrations. With a smooth wash of color, these bright and flowing cartoons create a sense of growing disorder. Pip, with his orange-and-yellow striped pajamas, loose sagging bathrobe, and enormous mousy ears, is an endearing character who gamely battles the growing tide with "Cat in the Hat" ingenuity. It is thus surprising that he gives up the fight and even more puzzling that he chooses to jump back in bed (where did all the water go?). Yet, as he contentedly dreams of cheese, readers can't help but smile at his well-earned sleep.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2000
Gr. K^-2. A leaky roof torments a sleepy mouse in this appealing I Can Read Book. Pip Squeak is just nodding off when a drop lands on his head. A well-placed teacup seems to solve the problem until another drop lands on his toes and another on his chin. Soon he is racing back and forth with pots and pans, trying to stem the flood of water that's beginning to swirl around his pajamas. He's ready to give up just as the storm breaks and the leaks stop. His friends stop by ready to splash in puddles, but tired Pip Squeak goes back to bed. In a few words per page, simple rhymes reminiscent of Dr. Seuss tell the funny, calamitous story. The language is appropriate for the youngest readers, while the animated illustrations make the story's action clear and fun to follow, picturing Pip Squeak's helpless war against the drips, before he finally settles to sleep, a dream wedge of cheese above his head. ((Reviewed July 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2001
A little mouse is up all night catching the drips from leaks in his roof. When the storm ends and morning comes, he declines the invitation to jump in puddles with friends and goes back to bed instead. The text is appropriate to the format with plenty of rhyme and repetition to help beginning readers decipher meaning. The art is full of movement and humor in addition to the necessary visual clues that support the text.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)