Pete the Sheep
Pete the Sheep is a 2004 picture book by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley. It is about a shearer, Shaun, and his sheep, Pete, who open a hairdressing salon for sheep. Reception. "Booklist", reviewing "Pete the Sheep", wrote "This is one extended joke, but the text is so jaunty and the artwork so amusing, it's hard to mind. Most of the fun in the ink-and-watercolor drawings comes from the expressions on the sheeps' faces--and, of course, their wild and wacky haircuts. Good for story hours." The "School Library Journal" was more  critical, writing "The creators of Diary of a Wombat (Clarion, 2003) have produced a bit of harmless, silly fluff that, while mildly amusing, is hardly likely to inspire rereading. Whatley's watercolor-and-colored-pencil illustrations are clean and crisp and work nicely with the text, but there is simply not much substance here." "The Horn Book Magazine" found that "Whatley's cleanly designed illustrations, which favor subdued colors and lots of white space, work well with French's understated text. Strong lines focus attention on the expressive characters in the well-paced story." "Pete the Sheep" has also been  reviewed by "Kirkus Reviews", "Library Media Connection", and "January Magazine". Pete the Sheep featured as 2009's National Simultaneous Storytime selection.