Too Much! Not Enough!

Peanut and Moe share a house and bunk beds, and not much else. It’s a personality thing: the goober-shaped Peanut is boisterous, inconsiderate, and judges every situation to be “not enough.” The disciplined, cautious Moe, who looks like a slab of blue clay with bear cub ears and a big pink nose, prefers a life that isn’t “too much.” During the course of their day together, it becomes evident that trouble is brewing. Moe cleans up Peanut’s cooking mess while Peanut clowns around with the soap bubbles. When Moe complains, “Too much noise,” during a music session, the heedless Peanut, who is playing three kazoos and banging on a drum, sings, “Not enough kazoos!” Peanut ultimately offers the exasperated Moe heartfelt acts of contrition, and Perry’s (Small) quirky cartooning and all-dialogue, opposites-driven text should hold the attention of younger readers. There’s a bit of a power differential in this relationship—Peanut even gets the vast majority of the text’s exclamation points—but, despite their differences, a final spread shows that Peanut and Moe’s affection for one another is unconditional. Ages 3–7. [em](June) [/em]