Horse & Buggy Paint It Out! (Horse & Buggy)

The cartoon panels with speech bubbles, picture-book trim, and vocabulary of fewer than 80 words used repeatedly make this sequel ideal for children just beginning to read on their own. Younger children will have no problem reading the pictures. Sure to inspire some enthusiastic painting.

PreS-Gr 2—Horse and Buggy are back. In this outing, Horse is going to paint a mural, and he's going to do it his way. He is wearing an artist's beret, so what could possibly go wrong? Despite Buggy's helpful suggestions, he is convinced that he doesn't need a plan. Of course, a huge mess ensues with paint everywhere and culminates with Horse slipping and landing flat on his back. "Buggy? Can you help me?" Yes, Buggy can (and does) with his four-point mural painting plan. The result is a colorful mural of flowers. And oh, the colors - Long does not stint on them. The changing backgrounds go from greens and blues to orange and yellows, which are the perfect base for the blue, yellow, purple, and orange paint that Horse manages to get everywhere. Using panels, spreads, speech bubbles, and various fonts, Long keeps readers engaged and the story moving along. The humor is accented by the facial expressions of Horse and Buggy. VERDICT In the style made popular by the Mo Willems's "Elephant and Piggie" books, Horse and Buggy eventually work together to paint a lovely mural. It also works surprisingly well as a primer on how (and how not) to paint a mural.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

[Readers] will chuckle at the visual contrast between Buggy's restrained, lowkey presence and Horse's extravagant capers and gestures.