Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/15/2017 Watkins applies the same silly spirit found in Rude Cakes (2015) to his story of Pete, a young elephant undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. One morning, Pete approaches a row of boulders and notices that he has a number of things in common with them. Like him, they are big, gray, and not wearing pants. Eureka! Pete must be a boulder! But his excitement dissolves when his new comrades maintain a stony silence in the face of his knock-knock joke. After storming off, Pete comes upon a tree full of squirrels, which happen to be gray and pantless, like a certain someone. The gag repeats and is comically echoed in the squirrels’ own deductions that Pete is undoubtedly a boulder. Over expressive, softly smudged pastel illustrations, Watkins keeps the joke going with small variations and well-timed appearances from Pete’s nattily dressed mother, until a sweetly exuberant ending is reached. The escalating humor is tailor-made for little ones, as is the gentle affirmation that being oneself is the best thing of all. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 06/01/2017 PreS-K—Boulders don't wear pants. Squirrels don't wear pants. So why should carefree little gray elephants have to wear pants? Oh yeah, because Mom said so. This quirky tale mixes images with spare text as it follows Pete the elephant through his imaginative romps. Mom trails after him, holding his britches with her trunk. The whimsical, sketchy illustrations seem simple but have many hidden delights, such as boulders coming to life and woodland creatures peering out from behind branches. Children might enjoy finding the small bird who observes the scenes on most of the pages and occasionally makes itself known with a "coo coo!" and other recurring images of acorns, worms poking out of the ground, and owls. The illustration of Pete tucked in his bed at night surrounded by pictures of his pachyderm family and images from his daily life is especially sweet, and the expression on the face of the elephant mother as she empathizes with her son in the end is touchingly recognizable. The offbeat humor is similar to that of Those Darn Squirrels and other Adam Rubin/Daniel Salmieri books, though less text-heavy. Fans of Rudecakes will be happy to see a new book by this author/illustrator. VERDICT A fun addition for silly storytimes and kids who love underwear jokes.—Suzanne LaPierre, Fairfax County Public Library, VA - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.