Go and Get with Rex

In this peppy read, creative partners LaRochelle and Wohnoutka (See the Cat: Stories About a Dog) introduce "Go and Get"--an "eye spy"-like alphabet game that keeps three players on their toes. When the unseen narrator calls out a letter of the alphabet, pale-skinned Jack; Jill, portrayed with brown skin; and anthropomorphized dog Rex are tasked with retrieving something that begins with that letter. The narrator kicks off the game with F, which results in Jack bringing a frog, Jill presenting a fish, and Rex showing up with a... duck? When Rex explains ("Woof! Woof! Woof!") that the duck is a "friend," the moment establishes both a running joke around Rex's fondness for ducks, and a key semantic point: context is everything. Meanwhile, Jack and Jill's responses become more expansive, as D inspires Jack to produce a dress-clad, drum-playing dinosaur, while Jill offers a daisy-drawing dragon sitting at a desk. The unflagging energy and creative play on offer should soon prompt readers to transfer the game from picture book to real life. Ages 3-7. (May)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

From the creators of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award-winning See the Cat (2020), here's another genuinely funny book. LaRochelle is very effective at creating comical situations, and his text reads aloud beautifully. In Wohnoutka's expressive gouache illustrations, which include speech balloons, Rex's puppy-dog eyes and body language make the story's outcome seem inevitable, but surely kids wouldn't have it end any other way. Well attuned to its audience of prereaders and beginning readers, this book is zany, fun, and downright irresistible.
—Booklist (starred review)

In this peppy read, creative partners LaRochelle and Wohnoutka (See the Cat: Stories About a Dog) introduce "Go and Get"—an "eye spy"-like alphabet game that keeps three players on their toes. . . . The unflagging energy and creative play on offer should soon prompt readers to transfer the game from picture book to real life.
—Publishers Weekly