Mudkin

“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

“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…. 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

“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

“Just about the perfect book to cozy up to and for reliving fond memories of pre-bathtime muckfests.” —Booklist, starred review