Bravo, Bucket Head!
by Helen Lester; illus. by Lynn Munsinger
Preschool, Primary   Atheneum    32 pp.    g
9/22    978-1-5344-9349-0    $18.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-9350-6    10.99

The author and illustrator of the hugely popular Tacky the Penguin series team up again for a book about Tacky’s opposite: painfully shy Mousetta, who “never squoke a squeak.” She is so shy that she walks backward to avoid meeting anyone. She scurries out of sight, she hides; she’s ­nothing like the three “really popular” mice in her class who are “cool,” “gorgeous,” and “awesome.” When Dr. ­Gladpaw advertises a workshop to “make you feel outgoing,” she signs up and attends with a bucket on her head. To her surprise, three other mice show up with their heads covered up, too. Everyone is in peril when a group of foxes appears (“Foxes in the area! Run and take cover!”), and it is Mousetta who finds her voice and saves them all. Lester’s comic timing is right on cue, and Munsinger’s watercolors against bright white pages use lots of smaller panels to capture each moment of the story with humor and fun. This is a great read-aloud with lots of ­different opportunities for discussion.

From the September/October 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.