Plenty of Pockets (by Ann Braybrooks)

When Henry and Henrietta can't find Junior right there in the living room because there's too much clutter, something's got to give. Dad sews lots of pockets, and they put away their mess. Whoops! They lost the sofa, and must empty their pockets in the yard. This ultimate messy-room story keeps kids chuckling.

This is the ultimate messy-room story! One kid thought he could hide all his stuff in his own jeans and set out to prove it by pocketing everything but this book, which he read again. Henry, it must be granted, has a novel idea about sewing pockets all over his and his wife's clothes. There's even a pocket to hold Junior, and Max, the pygmy hedgehog. The story's unexpected twist -- a yard sale -- gives a great suggestion for solving the clutter predicament.

The people and objects are cartoonlike. The collaged photographs spread throughout create eye-popping pages: What a surprise to find a real-looking baseball in a cartoon tree! The book design is inventive, with its shaped text and with oversized, fold-out pages highlighting the parent's fun-filled pockets. The endpapers, designed with sewing-machine stitches are a nice touch.

Author: Ann Braybrooks
Illustrator: Scott Menchin
Publisher: Harcourt Brace
Publication date: January 1, 2000
Number of pages: 34
Hardcover price: $7.15