cover image Wipe Your Feet!

Wipe Your Feet!

Daniel Lehan. Dutton Books, $14 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-525-44992-8

Who is leaving mysterious footprints of all shapes and sizes on Nancy Moore's bathmat? After quick trips to the zoo and then the library to consult with the research librarian, Nancy's suspicions are confirmed: the culprits are none other than the wild animals from a painting she bought at a yard sale. After catching the escapees in the act (this time they leave a trail all over her house), Nancy sets some ground rules, and everybody ends up happy. Lehan has reined in the chattiness that undermined This Is Not a Book About Dodos , his first effort, and here produced a picture book that, while decidedly off-beat, is fresh, funny and focused. Lehan's artistic style might best be described as surreal primitive--brash color combinations and a frolicsome sense of design produce spreads that are almost electric in their appeal. Sharp-eyed readers will enjoy unraveling the mystery before Nancy does--after their adventures, the animals return to the wrong spots in the painting. Ages 5-8. (Feb.)