Love the Beastie: A Spin-and-Play Book

by Henrik Drescher

Overview

Be kind to your pets! That’s the message of Love the Beastie.  Gross, outrageous, but pure fun in a book, Love the Beastie is a pull and poke, spin and play, and cuddle and kiss Valentine for kids and especially kids with pets.

Meet Paul and Judy. And meet their pet, Beastie. Paul and Judy used to be so mean to Beastie. They pulled Beastie’s hair, tickled Beastie's feet. So, Beastie feastied! Good thing Paul and Judy learned their lesson (stuck inside the belly of the Beastie).

Written and illustrated by Henrik Drescher, Love the Beastie picks up where his irresistibly offbeat Pat the Beastie left off. Now Paul and Judy really are best friends with Beastie, and treat him with the love and respect he deserves. They go to the playground and spin on the carousel—don’t throw up! Brush Beastie’s gunky teeth (Gross!), and help Beastie play dress-up (ha, look at Beastie’s funny clothes). Then, at the end of a long day, they all cuddle together in bed. Ahhh.

So what if Beastie’s kisses are scratchy or Beastie farts in his sleep. That doesn’t mean a thing when you love someone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761161097
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	12/20/2011
Pages:	11
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Henrik Drescher, an illustrator whose work regularly appears in The New York Times Book Review and other national and international publications, is the author of Pat the Beastie and other children’s books, including McFig and McFly: A Tale of Jealousy, Revenge, and Death (with a Happy Ending); Hubert the Pudge: A Vegetarian Tale; and The Strange Appearance of Howard Cranebill, which won The New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year.
He splits his time between Toronto and China.

Editorial Reviews

Paul and Judy used to do “naughty things” to their best friend, Beastie, who resembles a hairy green alligator. The evidence: a mini-booklet that briefly recaps scenes from the friends’ first outing, Pat the Beastie (1993). To teach them a lesson, Beastie swallows them and then spits them out—a pull-tab sends the two children careening out along Beastie’s slippery, red tongue. Now all is forgiven: Beastie, Paul, and Judy ride the carousel until they’re dizzy, brush Beastie’s “gunky” teeth, play dress up, and curl up together in bed (readers can tuck them in with a pink cloth blanket). With gentle gross-out humor, Drescher delivers an off-kilter reminder about being gentle with those we love. Agent: Red Fox Literary. Ages 3–up. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Having learned their lesson in Pat the Beastie (1993, reissued 2009), two formerly abusive children play nicer with their giant green pet in this follow up. Happily, Drescher still goes for the gross-out. Following a reprise of the previous episode's events, young Paul and Judy whirl out from the belly of the Beastie on a pull-tab tongue and take literal spins on the playground carousel ("It's a Queasy-Nart!!" comments a little side figure, in a typical example of the level of humor here). They then stagger off to a game of lift-the-flap hide and seek, some tooth brushing, a bit of dress up and finally a gassy snuggle in bed beneath a scrap of fabric. Aside from one flat spread, each of the garishly colored cartoon scenes features a different add-on or moving part--from a glued-in booklet or a fuzzy stretch of tongue to a kaleidoscopic spinner and an unusual pull-out accordion fold. The moving parts won't survive much repeated manipulation, but fart jokes never get old (to some). Behavior modeling, with an occasional welcome snigger. (Pop-up picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews