No Nibbling!, by Beth Ferry/Illustrated by A.N. Kang, (March 2022, Roaring Brook Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781250762412
Ages 4-7
Derwood is a goat with a beautiful garden, but he’s always on guard: growing a garden is “risky business”, after all. A sweet – and smart! – bunny named Tabitha appears with a gleam in her eye and a rumble in her tummy. There is so much tasty food growing in the garden! Tabitha loves to chatter away with Derwood, slyly slipping in food-related puns – “Lettuce talk about something else”; Rabbits don’t really carrot one way or another”; “Romaine calm, Mkster Derwood” – and innocently convincing the goat he’s hearing things. The two slowly cultivate a sweet friendship, and Derwood lets down his guard and shares some of his bounty. An adorable story with delightful wordplay; kids will love the lovable curmudgeon and witty youngster. Anna Kang’s digital illustrations are expressive and softly colorful; endpapers feature some of Derwood’s crops, all sporting nibbles, across a green and white-checked tablecloth. The wordplay is colorful and bold, making this a great readaloud choice where you can emphasize the puns as Tabitha spouts them.
Read and display with some other fun books that play with language. I love Carson Ellis’s Du Iz Tak?, Dear Deer, by Gene Barretta, and David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken books.
Mom Read It 