Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Willems's lively new early-reader series (a step up in complexity from Elephant & Piggie) features fifteen cartoony squirrels, a yellow bird, and a couple of joke-telling acorns. "The BIG Story!" stars Zoom Squirrel, who has lost a tooth. Six shorter appended sections are packed with bite-size information and jokes about teeth. Willems's familiar cleanly designed spreads set the characters and their color-coded speech-balloon chatter on solid-bordered white backgrounds. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A cast of squirrels investigates a missing tooth in this off-the-wall series opener from Willems.When lisping Zoom Squirrel reveals that they lost their tooth, the other squirrels work themselves into a frenzy. A tooth? All alone? Oh no! The rodent collective asks for clues and declares it their mission to find Zoom Squirrel's tooth. As the others' grand search takes them near and far (albeit in the wrong directions), Zoom Squirrel finds their tooth without help. Or did the tooth find Zoom Squirrel? This reader, a level up in complexity from Elephant Piggie, offers a similar formula but with a longer page count and a larger cast of cartoony characters. Willems' signature use of color-coded speech bubbles helps readers recognize speakers amid the increased amount of dialogue. Willems also breaks out of his early-reader mold with the inclusion of backmatter (tooth facts, silly jokes, and a quiz) and a table of contents. While the amusing backmatter effectively blends elements of nonfiction, the slim table of contents comes off as extraneous since the bulk of the story is uninterrupted by chapters. Similarly, Willems' use of "emote-acorns" to alert readers "when the Squirrels have BIG feelings" is a unique tool for encouraging social-emotional development but questionably effective. Elephant Piggie sure are a tough act to follow, but readers will more than likely want to squirrel these new friends away with equal fervor. (Early reader. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.