Martin Mixed-Up at the Beach

Linehan%E2%80%99s understated yet expressive pictures make the most of a straightforward story of sibling interactions in this spunky paper-over-board book. At the beach, Martin, a gray mouse, is reading a book when his baby sister%E2%80%99s crying shatters the peace. Martin dutifully does everything he can think of to cheer her up%E2%80%94including snuggling and tickling her, trying to make her laugh, and rocking her in an inner tube%E2%80%94all to no avail. Linehan%E2%80%99s bare-bones prose is punchy and effectively repetitive: %E2%80%9CMaybe she wanted to play. She did not want to play. Maybe she wanted to sing. She did not want to sing.%E2%80%9D The visual humor in Linehan%E2%80%99s loosely rendered cartoons gives the prose a deadpan quality, as she conveys the disgruntled child%E2%80%99s obstinacy through her animated body language and facial expressions (think lots of flailing and howling). The repeated dismissals of Martin%E2%80%99s attempts to placate his sister invite chiming in (%E2%80%9CBottle? No. Cracker? No%E2%80%9D), and the large type and limited vocabulary will bolster beginning readers%E2%80%99 confidence. While Martin never figures out what his sister wants on his own, she makes it clear in the end. Ages 3%E2%80%936.