Horn Book Review
This third book in the series contains another of Cleo's short, well-told stories. As readers learned in the previous book (Underpants on My Head, rev. 3/09), Cleo is prone to motion sickness, so her mom always keeps a barf bag handy. But when Cleo is stuffed into the middle seat of the middle row in a van traveling to a birthday party, she remembers too late that she has not come prepared -- and that she's eaten way too many pancakes for breakfast. The inevitable happens, and, to add insult to injury, Cleo is squashed up next to super-nice Mrs. Kenly, whose fur coat gets the worst of it. Harper's first-person text conveys Cleo's humiliation ("I wished I was dead. Well, not dead exactly, but unconscious or on top of the Eiffel Tower, far away") and then her relief when, at the swim club party, kind Mrs. Kenly encourages her to show off her fancy diving skills, which impress everyone, replacing Cleo's embarrassment with pride ("I noticed my smile was back to being real and everybody was acting like nothing ever happened"). When Cleo interjects a description of her breakfast earlier that day, chapter-book novices get an easy introduction to flashbacks, plus background information on her family of eight. The illustrated, very short chapters, Cleo's easy-to-relate-to emotions, and her good humor are just right for newly independent readers. _ From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Likable Cleo has gotten herself into another fix, and this time she's the victim of her own unpredictable stomach. Seems she can't handle eating "tons of pancakes" and going on a car trip in the same morning. And sweet, fur-coatclad Mrs. Kenly receives the full force of that bad combo. Cleo is a good storyteller, and her honest and funny first-person account of her little disaster builds slowly and dramatically, creating tension and drama even though the title tells the reader what is going to happen. Barfing will occurbut when and where? Cleo's emotions are clear and recognizable. "I was as embarrassed as if I was sitting there naked with a pumpkin on my head." Cleo soldiers on and, with Mrs. Kenly's encouragement, moves past her embarrassment with an impressive display of diving. New readers and fans of Judy Moody and Ramona Quimby will find a new heroine to appreciate in the irrepressible Cleo. (Fiction. 6-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After stuffing herself with pancakes, Cleo gets carsick on the way to a friend's swim party but recovers when everyone admires her diving tricks. Third in the Uh-oh, Cleo series, starring the resilient middle child in a big family, this humorous chapter book matter-of-factly describes the oh-too-familiar queasy feeling, the crowded car, her friend's watermelon-smelling gum, and the ant song that was the final straw. Luckily Mrs. Kenly is a good sport, and fur coats small brown animals, after all clean up well. Cleo, a natural storyteller, has just the right voice for her audience, who will welcome this new episode.--Isaacs, Kathleen Copyright 2009 Booklist