School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-A mysterious extraterrestrial vehicle lands in the pasture, and the sheep are off on their seventh adventure. "Sheep snoop. Sheep explore./Sheep climb through the spaceship door." One green alien, who bears a marked resemblance to the sheep, has remained onboard and watches as they suit up and blast off. With Earth in the distance, two sheep float outside and check for damage. Later, when they tinker with the main controls, "Sheep panic. Sheep guess./Which button should they press?" Thankfully, the alien stuns them and brings the ship safely back to Earth. Other aliens, aware of the situation, help carry them off the spaceship and leave them sleeping peacefully under pink blankets. The sheep awaken as the spaceship blasts off once more. Apple's softly shaded, colored-pencil drawings capture the expressive faces of the five sheep, and Shaw's crisp rhyming text chronicles their misadventures with economy and good humor. Beginning readers can sound out the short, simple sentences as they look for the hidden alien and wonder when he will intervene. Sheep in a Jeep (Houghton, 1986) won the hearts of children more than 20 years ago, and this adventure will win new fans for the series.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.