Crabtree

PreS-Gr 2—Alfred Crabtree cannot find his false teeth. Making the situation even more dire is the fact that he has many belongings among which they could be hidden. Overwhelmed, he calls his sister for advice. Stressing the need for organization, she suggests categorization. Hats are sorted with other hats, duck decoys are grouped together, as are portraits and favorite foods. "It is no fun to be hungry when you are looking for your false teeth." Unfortunately, sorting spreads Alfred's stuff out even more and leaves barely any room to move around. Needing additional advice, he calls another sister, who suggests putting everything in boxes. Alfred now has boxes labeled "Small yapping dogs," "Shells" (including pasta), "Broken Things," and "I Don't Know What These Things Are." Worn out and still without his teeth, he calls yet another sister. She asks if he looked in his "teeth closet" and, voila, there they are. Exhausted from all his looking, sorting, packing, and stacking, Alfred, wearing a toothy grin, decides to take a cruise on a ship that just happens to have room for all his boxes. This oversize book with foldout pages barely manages to contain the items cluttering Alfred's life. The loose, colorful illustrations with humorous captions will delight readers, even if some need to be explained (swizzle stick, cassette tape) and may inspire others to try drawing the things in their life. It may also inspire some closet cleaning.—Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY