MESS PETS

McElmurry (The Kettles Get New Clothes, p. 952, etc.) explores the fertile territory of the messes to be found in juvenile bedrooms, as well as the psychologically messy province of competitive siblings. Hannah and Hilary are identical red-headed twins who share a bedroom, feuding because Hannah is neat and organized and Hilary is hopelessly messy and downright dirty, with heaps of junk on her side of the room that include pizza crusts and dirty socks. The trash piles mysteriously produce two unusual pets, a dog-like imaginary creature named Mr. Peel for Hilary and an extra-long-tailed cat named Tip-Top for Hannah. In the strongest part of the story, the girls and their “mess pets” descend into the underworld that exists beneath messy rooms, with several humorous spreads showing map-like illustrations of fantastical formations such as Hairy Hairbrush Lane, Spilled Milk Lagoon, and Dust Bunny Mountain (complete with sneezing rabbits). When Hannah and Hilary hear their own arguments replayed by their bickering pets, they realize that compromise is in order, and a group rapprochement is achieved with a wallow in a huge banana split. The partially rhyming text is unevenly paced and the rapid transitions between the real world and the underworld are at first a little confusing, but the glories of this messy realm shouldn’t be missed. Both kids and parents on opposite sides of the clean-your-room divide will enjoy the busy details of Mess World. (Picture book. 4-8)