WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY?

All the animals on the farm are busy: the dog is deep into mischief, the cat is companionably teasing, whereas the pig practically glories in his cool mud, and all the other animals—and a child—report their activities in a swinging, compelling rhyme. The refrain, “That’s what I did today,” concludes one animal’s two-page spread and ties it to the “What did you do today” of the next in line to show off. The pictures usually follow as well, so the bunny has chosen to eat his carrot in the strawberry bush where the spider has “found a spot without a trace / Of hanging webs of silver lace.” Joining the spider in that scene is the bee that will report on the next page. A charming Asian boy follows the antics and performs his chores, earning him a well-deserved sleep at the end of the day. Hayashi’s (My Two Grandmothers, 2000, etc.) softly hued watercolors, combined with dramatically bright prismacolor pencil, deftly engage the eye. When the dog carries his young master’s pig slippers away, the cat tries to teach the dog to purr, and the pig hefts his bottom into the mud, the sprightly rhyming text comes alive. Working its way from the dog to the cat and on through a bee, a bear, an ant, a fish, and a bird, all bases are covered in this joyful romp. (Picture book. 3-5)