We LOVE silly books at our house. The more ridiculous, the better! Do you know what makes a 3 year old’s giggle box turn over? Think of something completely absurd, I mean really use your imagination, add some silly sounds, maybe even a made-up word or two. At three you haven’t quite mastered jokes (“Mama, why did the bear cross the road? To get some ice cream!”) and sometimes puns are still over your head, but if a book dishes out something really out there on the silly scale it is HILARIOUS to you.
We discovered two books written by Kent Redeker (writer for Disney’s TV series, Doc McStuffins) and illustrated by Bob Staake that have all the magic ingredients to really tickle Bear’s sense of humor: some super silly made-up animals pestering a slightly sensitive Sasquatch (with supremely long arms).
In Don’t Squish The Sasquatch the fedora wearing Señor Sasquatch only wants to ride Mr. Blobule’s bus without getting squished. “I hope it doesn’t get too crowded,” he tells Mr. Blobule. “I do not like to get squished!”
As Mr. Blobule allows one passenger after another on board he reminds them, “DON’T SQUISH THE SASQUATCH!” … But with passengers like Miss Elephant Shark, Mr. Octo-Rhino and Miss Whale Goat, well, you can imagine that the bus gets crowded fast! What happens when Señor Sasquatch is squished? A surprise fold out spread shows the bus finally goes KABLOOEY! And Mr. Blobule and his passengers must figure out what to do to help poor squished Sasquatch (Spoiler alert: there ensues a lot of Sasquatch smooching and a big group hug…wait are group hugs squishy?)
Don’t Splash the Sasquatch follows in the same formula as the first book, but Mr. Blobule is recast as the pool lifeguard, and Señor Sasquatch is now a summer sunbather (still donning his dapper bow tie) who simply does not want to be splashed.
Señor Sasquatch’s ill-fated plan to lounge by the diving board results in much silliness as one swimmer after another takes a dive. It’s hard to stay dry when an Octo-Rhino makes such a giant ker-splash.
When Señor Sasquatch is thoroughly soaked he gets SQUIZZILEFIED – a new favorite word that feels appropriate for most of my bad hair days. I’ll let you pick up the book to find out what Mr. Blobule and all the crazy creatures do next.
Now silliness is the POINT here, but I wanted to add that you can sneak in a little bit of learning play when you read these books. First, the whole premise of these books is the build up of anticipation – what happens when the Sasquatch gets squished/splashed – the first time you read these with your kiddo, ask them what they think will happen to Señor Sasquatch. Prediction is a great literacy skill! We also like to think about animal sounds when we read these aloud. What would a Whale Goat sound like? (…I usually sound like Dory from Finding Nemo when she’s talking to whales) Make up new voices for every creature! Since the pages have a lot of repetition, it’s also easy for pre-readers to recite the pages on their own, so see what funny voices your little one can come up with, too. Maybe even have them come up with their own silly creature combos and draw them! This book is great for sparking the imagination.
We got our copies of these super silly books from the library, but you can also get yours from Amazon here and here
Little extras:
Already have the Sasquatch series? Illustrator Bob Staake will sign your book and throw in a doodle, if you send it to him by mail! more info about getting a signed book here
