THE CREATURE OF HABIT

Can a creature of habit change his ways?

The eponymous creature, who lives a solitary life on the island of Habit, is a big, unspecified, anthropomorphic being. With his pink nose, buck teeth, and two feathery ears, he looks more like a white rabbit than an old dog, but he is decidedly averse to learning new tricks. Opening pages establish how he happily sticks to a very strict daily regimen of foods (three pineapples and two bananas, twice a day) and activities (greeting fish, trees, rocks, and a crab, and collecting shells). Then a new, small creature arrives by boat and shakes things up a bit. At first, the small creature, who looks like a blue fuzzball with pipestem limbs and green spectacles, tries out the creature of Habit’s routine, but by the second day, he is eating new foods, exploring new places, and spontaneously pursuing his heart’s content. The big creature is overwhelmed by the small one’s antics, and a climactic spread shows him in a close-up, waving his short arms in the air with text that exclaims, “IT WAS ABSOLUTE MADNESS!” After this comical outburst, the big creature starts to follow the small one around and is both charmed and persuaded to try a few new things himself. The rewards for this flexibility are manifold, with companionship being the most important. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sure to support little ones’ reading habits.