The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Summary: 
The Great Fuzz Frenzy begins with Violet the dog dropping a tennis ball into the ground where a bunch of prairie dogs live. The up and down pages gives readers a good visual of the path the tennis ball takes. Having never seen a tennis ball before and having no idea what it is, the group of prairie dogs are somewhat scared and mysteriously fascinated by the foreign object. The leader of the group, named Big Bark is the largest and loudest prairie dog . He tries to take charge of the situation and has everyone step back when Pip Squeak goes right in and touches the tennis ball. They soon discover they can pull off the ‘fuzz’ and have quite a lot of fun with it. The dogs begin making hats, slippers, tutus with the neon green fuzz. After falling asleep, the prairie dogs learn that their fuzz has disappeared.  Soon they begin fighting causing chaos in the burrow. The prairie dogs learn that their leader, Big Bark, has taken all of the fuzz when he gets swooped away by an eagle. The dogs begin to discuss whether or not to save Big Bark, and in the end Pip pulls through and rallies the other dogs to help Big Bark proving that two wrongs don’t make a right. The prairie dog community will be disturbed again as the last page shows Violet the dog with a red fuzzy ball.

Mrs. Garza's Thoughts:
What a funny story! Janet Steven was so creative to use the up and down pages to show the path of the tennis ball. The chaos the ball causes in the prairie dog community is so comical! I especially enjoyed the conversations between the prairie dog. The use of the bright neon green color of the tennis ball fuzz added more to the chaos. My favorite character is Pip Squeak because he is the one that realizes that they need to save Big Bark from the eagle. Pip Squeak showed leadership and how he values the members of his community. As a teacher, I would use this book to show the creativity of the prairie dogs and their different ideas on how to use the fuzz. Friendship is also a theme in the story that could teach our students that when we need to save one of our friends in our classroom, we should not think twice because everyone is valued!