Oh, No!

Oh, No! by Candace Fleming
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Candace Fleming has written a charming picture book about a group of jungle animals who one by one fall into a deep hole where they are stalked by a tiger. Don’t worry, the situation might sound dire, but it’s handled with great humor and no animals get harmed in this funny tale. Fleming’s use of word repetition to describe the animals’ sounds and movements is so wonderfully rhythmic that I can almost imagine this book being put to music and sung. Even reading it silently to myself, I could almost hear the words being sung like a folk song. The beautiful relief print illustrations are by Caldecott medal winner Eric Rohmann, author and illustrator of such books as “Time Flies,” “The Cinder-Eyed Cats,” and “My Friend Rabbit.” Beginning and ending with the end papers, Rohmann fills the book with full page spreads showing us each animal as it approaches the hole and then what happens as they fall into it. The illustrations have a wonderful sense of movement and rhythm, making a perfect match for Fleming’s sing-song text. On some spreads Rohmann has split the page into panels, much like a comic strip so that we get a continuous flow of movement. As each animal falls in, we are shown the animals already in the hole, jostling to make room for the new occupant. For these ‘action shots,’ Rohmann cleverly changes the point of view so that we get a glimpse of what it’s like looking up from the bottom of the deep, deep hole. I think kids will be delighted by the ending of Fleming’s tale when they see who comes to the rescue and what happens to the tiger. And for those worried about the tiger, the last spread on the end papers should ease any worries over his fate. This would make a great read-aloud, one I’m sure kids will enjoy participating in and hearing over and over again.

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