School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-This gentle narrative invites children to join in the sounds and actions of various wild creatures. "Can you click like a dolphin,/swimming through the seas?/Can you buzz like a honeybee,/floating on a breeze?" Each uncluttered spread introduces a new animal, easily distinguishable to young children in Butler's signature hazy, pastel-hued paintings. As the pages turn, day passes into night with successively quieter activities. The book closes with a snoozing animal kingdom, each creature smiling peacefully in its sleep. Large text curves gracefully through each image. Nature is depicted as ever-friendly, where frolicking, twinkly-eyed animals lope through soft grasses. While similar works abound, Can You Growl Like a Bear? is one of the higher-quality offerings in the animal-imitation genre. This simple book will fit easily into any storytime or bedtime repertoire.-Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This welcoming book showcases 10 familiar species that make distinctive sounds, then prompts youngsters to do their best imitations: "Can you growl like a bear,/ rolling in the snow?/ Can you chatter like a chimp,/ swinging to and fro?" Rendered in downy acrylics and colored pencils, Butler's (Ten in the Meadow) animal portraits are both cuddly and impressively detailed. In one spread, a trio of dolphins glides through sky-blue water, their streamlined bodies dappled by sunlight; one baby dolphin looks directly at readers, offering both a sweet smile and greeting of bubbles through its blowhole. Although the text gently pushes its audience toward bedtime ("Everyone is quiet now," nudge the final lines, "You can't hear a peep./ It's time to gently close your eyes/ and fall fast asleep"), there's plenty here to keep a circle of preschoolers entertained in broad daylight. Ages 2-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
