Just as life's lemons can be turned into lemonade, god-awful messes can make masterpieces. So demonstrates What Can a Mess Make?, Bee Johnson's expertly executed debut picture book in rhyme, in which two kids who appear to be sisters spend an entire day generating marvelous outcomes that more than justify the domestic havoc they wreak along the way.
Young readers probably already know that a topsy-turvy kitchen can lead to a superb meal, like the breakfast put together by these siblings. But what can someone make with "rubber bands/ and cardboard box.// Coffee tin and shiny rocks.// Funnel, hose,/ and tape in hand"? Answer: "A mess can make/ a marching band." On it harmoniously goes, each of several sets of perfectly metered rhymes concluding with the "A mess can make..." refrain, until an argument over an alluring dress-up item earns the kids a time-out administered by a largely off-screen parent. (For adult readers, the relaxed but not lax parenting on display will receive plaudits. After the kids maim a pillow during a pillow fight, they're depicted sweeping up the feathers.) The siblings make peace, and the purposeful untidiness resumes until the inevitable happens: "A mess can make/ a good night's sleep."
For young readers, the guessing-game aspect of this ode to creativity will hold special appeal: What will each fresh episode of disorder produce? All readers of What Can a Mess Make? should appreciate the spirited clean-lined art, for which Johnson softens the book's visual lawlessness with a law-abiding autumnal palette. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author