Wake Up, Rupert!

PreS-Gr 2—Rupert the rooster is not an early bird. His friend, Sherman the sheep, offers to fill in for him and "cock-a-doodle-doo" in the morning. When Sherman awakes in the middle of the night and thinks it is the morning, he doesn't want to disappoint his pal. Fearing his call wasn't loud enough, he brings in a flock of sheep as reinforcements and the deafening blast of "BAAB-BAABA-BA-A-A" wakes up everyone on the farm. Soon, bleary-eyed children are waiting for the school bus in the dark, Farmer Tim is knocked over by animals who can't see him, and the cows wind up gobbling all the pancakes in the kitchen. Surveying the chaos, Rupert realizes that "Waking everybody up is a special job. And it's MY job." New Yorker artist Twohy's ink and felt pen cartoons show Rupert's comical antics, from setting six alarm clocks to bolting upright in bed with fuzzy slippers and a sleep cap tied over his ears. With superb pacing and laugh-out-loud illustrations, this book is something to crow about.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada