Alphonse, There’s Mud on the Ceiling!

Toddler-PreS–This sweet story explores creative play between two monster siblings. Alphonse and Natalie, reminiscent of UglyDolls, live in an apartment. One day they find sleeping bags in the closet, a discovery that leads to pretend play about camping. Eventually, they go to the park and then end up spending an evening in a homemade tent on the balcony. The screen-printed illustrations are big and bold. Natalie is red with googly eyes and fluffy ears, while Alphonse is smaller, blue, and blobby with visible teeth and bunny ears. Hirst makes excellent use of her space, using spot art to create movement on white pages, and adding in full-bleed spreads to move the story along. The concise text has a childlike look and feel to it and would work well as a read-aloud. The story feels like a peek into a day of childhood play and thought, which is also where it falters. It lacks some transitions, and periodically lacks internal logic. Adult onlookers will need to warn about the safety of climbing inside a blackberry bush in the park and eating said blackberries.