Reviews
"Sure, rain showers bring flowers, but they also bring plenty of mud--the star of Gammell's (How the Nobble Was Finally Found) exuberant picture book romp. Post-rain, a girl heads out to play, queen of her stuffed animals and all that she surveys. When a mud creature with a turnip-shaped head splashes up out of a puddle, the girl gains a new pal and a new subject who provides her with a grand robe, crown, carriage, and even a castle, all made out of the brown muck. As another thunderstorm blows in, Mudkin and his fantastic kingdom wash away--leaving only the girl's crown. In this nearly wordless volume, readers see Mudkin's communiqués as splotches of mud, while the girl's speech is one side of a conversation that makes perfect sense to her. ('Hi... what's your name?' [Muddy smudges.] 'Mudkin... it's nice to meet you'). Gammell's signature style--wispy, loose lines with paint splatter accents--flows freely like a muddy daydream over the spreads. No doubt that kids will be checking puddles for impish, fun-loving Mudkins of their own come spring." --Publishers Weekly, "Mud holds a natural attraction for children it seems, and Gammell imaginatively plays off that premise with pages full of swirls and drips of brownish colors set against grays and blues of showery skies. As the story begins, a young unnamed heroine commandeers her stuffed animal playmates to come outside for a post-rainstorm romp. Before long, a splotch of mud catapults skyward, announcing the arrival of Mudkin, a brown, babylike creature whose head resembles a Hershey's chocolate kiss. Naming the child his Queen, Mudkin invites her to play; soon she, too, is reveling in the wet dirt, wearing a mud cape and a crownlike pointy hat. What a day they have-complete with a carriage ride to a castle (mud-built, of course) and a welcome by a bevy of little Mudkins. When the returning rain washes Mudkin and her earthy costume away, the youngster gathers up her toy friends, the left-behind hat, and, with happy memories of a magical day, heads home. For Mudkin's few phrases, Gammell cleverly places mud splats for dialogue, nudging children into supplying their own interpretations. There's little text; the artist's energetic style and rain-splashed colors carry the story forward." --School Library Journal, "There's no denying it, and little use trying to stop it. Kids love mud, and here's a picture book thatpositively revels in all its gleefully gloppy glory. A young girl marches out after a rainstorm with her toys, demanding a good bit of playtime. Out of the ground springs a little creature that looks kind of like a cross between an onion and, well, a friendly turd (he even has a cute little mud-butt). He introduces himself as Mudkin and asks the girl to be his queen. She's more than happy to oblige, naturally, and they're off on a sludge-filled adventure. Mudpies? Please. Try a mud carriage that carries our beaming mud queen up to a dazzlingly goopy castle where she looks out over a throng of adoring mudkins. Gammell tells the whole story with hardly any words. The girl has a few lines of dialogue, but Mudkin's responses are all a scrawl of indecipherable brown smears, offering a neat chance for kids to engage and fill in their own ideas for what he's saying. But what will really bring on the squeals is the joyfully messy watercolors that look composed of thick, overhand tosses of mud-splatters and heartily ground-in grass-stains. Just about the perfect book to cozy up to and for reliving fond memories of pre-bathtime muckfests." --Booklist, starred review, "Sure, rain showers bring flowers, but they also bring plenty of mud--the star of Gammell's (How the Nobble Was Finally Found) exuberant picture book romp. Post-rain, a girl heads out to play, queen of her stuffed animals and all that she surveys. When a mud creature with a turnip-shaped head splashes up out of a puddle, the girl gains a new pal and a new subject who provides her with a grand robe, crown, carriage, and even a castle, all made out of the brown muck. As another thunderstorm blows in, Mudkin and his fantastic kingdom wash away--leaving only the girl's crown. In this nearly wordless volume, readers see Mudkin's communiqus as splotches of mud, while the girl's speech is one side of a conversation that makes perfect sense to her. ('Hi... what's your name?' [Muddy smudges.] 'Mudkin... it's nice to meet you'). Gammell's signature style--wispy, loose lines with paint splatter accents--flows freely like a muddy daydream over the spreads. No doubt that kids will be checking puddles for impish, fun-loving Mudkins of their own come spring." --Publishers Weekly, "An imaginative little girl goes outside to play after a rainstorm. She meets a brown, blobby creature named Mudkin, who takes her, in a mud-constructed coach, to his home and asks her to be his people's queen. Another rain shower washes the creatures--but not her memories--away. Spare text, all from the girl's side of the conversation, makes room for Gammell's trademark spattery illustrations." --The Horn Book Guide
