Lots More Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing.

POPPreS-Gr 2--This funny follow-up to Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing presents readers with a new selection of animals who should never, ever wear clothing. They would simply be faced with too many problems! After all, clothing would hamper a horse, fluster a flamingo, be unbearable for a bear, and is unnecessary because a penguin is already dressed. Most of all, it would be absurd for an armadillo. The best-selling author/illustrator duo of the award-winning "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" series have crated another winner. Ron Barrett's humorous illustrations of animals struggling while wearing clothing paired with Judi Barrett's big, bold text create the perfect combination and convincingly prove their point. Alliteration and plays on words make the pages with text just as laughable as the corresponding art. VERDICT This is a light and enjoyable picture book with the takeaway that animals are better off just the way they are--without clothing! Recommended for fans of the first book and anyone who likes to laugh.--Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library

This husband-and-wife team follow up their classic picture book Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (1970) and its sequel, Animals Should Definitely Not Act like People (1980), with a look at more animals dressed hilariously in human attire. But, as with the other titles, looking silly isn't the reason why a horse, frog, bear, spider, and others ought not to get dressed. Instead, it's "because a crab would tear it up" (the crab is pictured ripping apart its plaid shirt with its claws) and "because an elk would have too many choices." The elk, rendered in Barrett's distinctive pen-and-ink art, wears anxiety on its face while peering up at the many hats perched on its antlers. A skunk really shouldn't wear a plaid skirt because it "could make it stinky," while a turtle "has a turtleneck of its own." The formula--a finger-wagging narrator up against ludicrous circumstances--is familiar but no less delightful in this companion title. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)