*An Advanced Reader Copy of DID YOU EAT THE PARAKEET? by Mark Iacolina was sent to me for free by the publisher, Macmillan, for an honest review. All thoughts here are my very own.

Such a playful storybook! Told in an upbeat, quick, rhyming style - this book is sure to get the giggle-fest started on the first page...

Right from the start, the little girl is looking for her pet parakeet and accuses the cat - of course, the cat would never do such a thing! However, the girl is convinced that the cat had something to do with the parakeet's disappearance. And the story just flows with her search and how the cat defends himself and helps her.

First of all, the little parakeet is quite the little clown - with it imitating the little girl's mannerisms with exaggeration while still having the ability to hide in plain site for quite a while... this parakeet is our new hero and we wish our parrot had its wit and charm!

Next, the poor cat getting accused of doing such an unthinkable thing! The patience and understand that it had for its poor little girl until it couldn't take it any longer and helped her realize the error of her ways...

And lastly, look for the adorable little mouse hiding throughout the story but curiously peeking in just enough to keep up to date with the investigation - this was not missed and was just too cute!

The illustration style is one that I hope to accomplish in my own work someday! With simple stick figure colorful drawings, the illustrator is able to portray so much of the story with facial expressions and mannerisms that it made it really fun, engaging and simple for my little one to keep up with and engage in more than just pointing to things and asking questions, but in helping tell the story too.

Quite a fun book to get even the shyest one to open up and have a good laugh! ( )