GET BUSY, BEAVER!
by Carolyn Crimi & illustrated by Janie Bynum
A family of eager beavers learns there’s more to life than building a bigger, better dam. Young Thelonious Beaver is definitely out of sync with his industrious family who spend every waking moment “busy, busy, busy,” rebuilding their dam and competing with their neighbors. By day, the dreamy Thelonious watches cloud shapes and dragonflies. At night he gazes at stars and fireflies. His family constantly nags him to “get busy” and stop daydreaming. But when the aesthete Thelonious engineers his own show-stopping creation, he inspires the hard-working beavers to abandon their construction frenzy and literally sit back and smell the roses. The text, along with the humorously detailed line and pastel washed illustrations, contrasts Thelonious’s pastoral pleasures with his family’s frenetic chomping and chopping. A charming salute to the creative dreamers of the world—including Leo Lionni’s classic, Frederick. (Picture book. 4-8)