Funny. I liked the unexpectedly creative twist on the text. If it had just been the text you were expecting, I would have been bored to sleep. As it was, I laughed at the whole thing. Good book. ( )

That castorine conductor, Mr. Herbert Timberteeth, discovers that his all-animal chorus isn't quite content with his newly composed song, "What Animals Like," in this recent picture-book from author/illustrator Fiona Robinson. With the shrimp section declaring their preference for skiing (rather than swimming), and the cows insisting that they like to dig (not "moo"), the rehearsal is soon in an uproar, and the harassed composer must revise his original lyrics, to make them reflect "What Animals Really Like."

An amusing book, one which sets up certain expectations in its readers, only to pop out with the unexpected, What Animals Really Like would make an excellent read-aloud selection, I suspect. I don't know that I found it as appealing as some of the friends who recommended it - humor is very personal, and I tend to go less for the slapstick, than for the sly - but I think it would work very well for young readers who appreciate the silly. Robinson's artwork is engaging, in an entertaining, cartoon-like way, and her fold-out flaps add to the fun. All in all, a sweet little book! ( )

At the concert tonight the animals will be performing a new song composed and conducted by Mr. Hebert Timberteeth. The curtains open and the song starts out simply enough; lions that like to prowl, wolves that like to howl, pigeons that like to coo, and cows that like to dig. Wait, what? Cows that like to dig? Hebert can’t believe his ears. One animal and then another and another changes the lyrics to sing about what they really like to do. Finally, they convince Herbert to let them sing the song their way. Pretty soon the pages are full of ballet dancing pigeons, deep-sea diving horses, ping-pong playing kangaroos, and more. As the animals sing their thanks the curtains close and the audience cheers for the wonderful, new song written by Mr. Hebert Timberteeth.

The text begins with rhyming text, but just like the song, the text veers off into the unknown in a delightfully chaotic manner after the animals take over. Herbert, a beaver in a tuxedo, is a charming straight man against the offbeat animals. The pen, ink, and marker illustrations continue the tongue-in-cheek style of humor. Robinson’s precisely drawn characters cavort across the pages, using every bit of space available. This is a concert, so the animals are dressed in evening clothes; it’s hilarious to see the worms bowling in their bow ties and the warthogs parachuting in their pink puff-sleeved dresses. The book is cleverly designed with two sets of flap pages for the opening and closing of the stage curtains.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-209-what-animals-really-like-by...

As posted on Outside of a Dog:

Ah, the humor that comes from subverted expectations. Comedians the world over had made millions laugh with such verbal sleight of hand. One of the latest entries to this grand tradition of humor is What Animals Really Like by Fiona Robinson. Here we get the story of "legendary conductor Mr. Herbert Timberteeth" (excellent name, a beaver by trade), and his latest musical masterpiece. A whole menagerie of animals has come out to perform this latest opus, but little does Mr. Timberteeth know that his performers have a mind of their own. It all starts well: we have lions who like to prowl, wolves who like to howl, pigeons who like to coo and cows, who like to...dig. Dig!? It all goes downhill from there, as the animals take over and sing their own version of the song with things they really like to do. Did you know lions like flower arranging? Neither did I. Robinson's art, done in pen and ink and marker pens is imaginative, colorful and downright gleeful. Just imagine the expressions of some shrimp declaring their love of skiing. We also get a few wonderful shots of the listening audience, mere peering eyeballs in the darkness of the theater. The cover is a little bit of genius, bursting with animals in fancy dress preparing for the coming performance. The only thing that could have made this better would have been some giraffes. Seriously, where were the giraffes? This is going to be a wonderful read-aloud, perhaps well paired with JoAnn Early Macken's Baby Says "Moo"!. ( )

We human beings think we know, don’t we? But we don’t. And this little children’s picture book proves it. When asked to participate in a musical about what animals really want, animals at first comply and reply with stereotypical animal likes but, gradually, as the musical progresses, the animals begin to rebel and answer from their quirky animal hearts.

Like all really good picture books, this book can be about more than the real preferences of kangaroos and cows. With foldout pages and big bright illustrations that make the real book much, much better than an e-book.

“We are monkeys, and we like to play.
We are horses, and we like fresh hay.
We are worms, and we like to wiggle.
We are warthogs, and we like to…
…blow enormous bubbles.

Blow enormous bubbles?
Stop! Stop!
That’s not in my song.” ( )