Be Quiet, Mike!  Leslie Patricelli, Author Leslie Patricelli.
Candlewick, $14.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4477-2 Reviewed on:
06/13/2011 Release date: 08/01/2011 Mike, a little monkey who
started beating time in utero ("kick thump pow" comes through
loud and clear on the obstetrician's stethoscope), turns
everything from a garbage can to his sister's dolls into
percussive instruments. So he's constantly being admonished with
the titular refrain (which, ironically—or cleverly—begs to be
shouted). Mike tries hard to play by the rules, but "the beat of
his heart/ was stronger than his will." The gentle lesson
Patricelli (the Patterson Puppies books) serves up is that
exercising one's talent is great in the right context: a
natural-born drummer should use a drum kit—and if that's out of
reach (as is the one Mike spies in a store window), make
necessity the mother of invention. Patricelli isn't the most
felicitous rhymer—the literal writing and well-behaved meter
don't do justice to her hero's gifts ("Mike was good a