There's a pest in the garden!

In the first two entries of this high-energy, giggle-inducing beginning-reader series, a ragtag group of animals tries to stop a nuisance in the garden (Pest) and figure out what is after them (Chasing). Bold words in the text and speech balloons helpfully emphasize inflection when reading. Digital illustrations with thick lines and bright colors are expressive and funny. [Review covers these Ready-to-Laugh Reader titles: There's a Pest in the Garden! and What Is Chasing Duck?] (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden. Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep's favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, "Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!" and catching the others' puzzled looks, continues, "I don't like peas." After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn't come together as well since it's unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn't recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book's end. Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.