If All the Animals Came Inside

by Eric Pinder, Marc Brown (Illustrator)

The walls would tremble. The dishes would break.
Oh, what a terrible mess we would make!

If all the animals came inside, bears would run down the stairs, kangaroos would bounce on the couch, and hippos would play hide-and-seek through the halls! Join one family's wild romp as animals of all shapes and sizes burst through the front door and make themselves right at home.

Extraordinary collage artwork from beloved illustrator Marc Brown (Arthur series) pairs with Eric Pinder's hilarious rhyming verse to make this the perfect book to read aloud again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Humor, Poetry, Family

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2012

About the author

Eric Pinder lives in rural New Hampshire, where he enjoys the outdoors and sometimes shares the nearest wild blueberry patch with a foraging bear. His books for children include If All the Animals Came Inside and Cat in the Clouds. He teaches creative writing at the new Hampshire Institute of Art and earned his M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too "wild" for me, but I can see how kids might like the rhyme, the plethora of animals and the playful, messy nature of the whole thing.

There's something about the phrase, "When all the animals..." followed by a past-tense verb (played, wanted, needed) that throws off the language for me. I understand the "if-then" component, but it doesn't quite roll off my tongue.

Marc Brown's illustrations are fun, and the use of colorful corrugated cardboard is delightful.

I would trying reading aloud--and with enthusiasm. Then, I would insist EVERYONE make their own corrugated carboard animal and create their own "if-then" sentence.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun rhyming story exploring the consequences of all the animals coming inside the house. Like a less accomplished Wolves in the Wall. The art is a charming collage effect combining painting and photos. Think Dave McLean but not as good.

I do like the somewhat guilty looking panda raiding the kitchen. Fun enough.

[Ashlie Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of my favorite read aloud books. The rhyming cadence is PERFECT. My younger son has some attention issues but relates very much to music, and when I read this to him, he bounces as if he were listening to his favorite song- there is a clear beat throughout that I so enjoy. The illustrations pop and leads to tons of great discussion. Don't skip this book.

[Linsey Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a silly story that would actually be accurate. You could ask your students how their families would feel if all of those animals came inside! I feel like students would really like this book!

[Janeene · Rating 3 out of 5]

of course this would be a book I'd want to read

I'm in my "kid phase"

[Yasmine Coulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

If All the Animas Came Inside is a picture book that shows what would happen if different animals were let into the house. It follows these children who have to figure out how to live in their house with all these animals including bears, rhinos, and even an octopus. The children decide that these animals would be too loud and messy to love inside. They rather stick with their cat and dog that live with them. The illustrations are by Marc Brown. I love the texture the illustrator creates with the use of straight lines. The illustrations show the messes each animal makes as the story goes on. There are a few images on each page that seem more like a magazine clipping rather than a drawing. This makes these images stand out against the drawings of the background. On one page, Marc Brown makes a reference to his best selling series, "Arthur." This is a fun inclusion in the book for readers to point out when reading. The images in this book are large and animated. The words are smaller, which would work best as a read aloud book. There are large, colorful onomatopoeias throughout the book that children could help read during a read aloud. There is repetition in a sentence throughout the story that goes, "The walls would tremble. The dishes would break. Oh, what a terrible mess we would make!" The second sentence changes depending on what each animal is doing. This book would be great to read to children in kindergarten or first grade.

[Maddy Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

If All the Animals Came Inside by Eric Pinder and illustrated by Marc Brown is a fun story about a common childhood thought. As a kid, I know that when I visited the zoo I always joked with my mom about wanting to take a monkey or manatee home with us. In this story, a young boy fantasizes about how his life would be if all animals were welcome in his house. He thinks its a great idea, until he analyzes how much his life would change! He ends the story saying that he is content with the animals staying outside, and his house consisting of his family, his cat, and his dog. The illustrations are so fun and wild in this book, making it a great story to read aloud to a class. They're large, easy to see, and make the pages interesting to look at while reading aloud. The text, though, is what makes it such a great book to read aloud! The words are fun, and they use words like "Thump, Rhump, Bang, Bump." and "Lunch Munch, Burp Crunch." It gives kids great sound effects, and they can easily imagine what it would sound like if a bunch of wild animals lived in their home! There is also a repetitive line in the story, which would be great for kids to repeat aloud as I read. I loved this book, and I think it is a perfect story book to read to 2 year olds up to kindergarten or first grade.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhythmic text that just begs to be read aloud with bright, vivid illustrations make this book a fantastic group read aloud. It's a little on the long side so skip a spread or two if the kids get a little restless, but definitely have them join you on each "Oh what a terrible mess we would make!"

Just plain fun!!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, silly read with neat collage-style illustrations from Marc Brown of Arthur fame.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy imagines if animals lived in his house what would happen. chaos and lots of fun to make noises ensue. Will he be able to still live there? preschool and up for length

[Heather Stamper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book I found for my read aloud.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to reading this aloud to preschoolers!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine if wild animals came into the house - what a mess they would make as they play hide-and-seek and other games! Told in rhyme and with funny illustrations.

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly passable imagination fantasy about animals invading a kid's house.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the rhymes and the artwork and that they watch Arthur on TV!

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie loved this book! It is all about if animals lived in your house with you!

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to it's length this silly book would be best for preschoolers. Includes rhyming words, sound words (boom, bang etc.) has a good pace to the plot, a silly story line and interesting illustrations

[Jordon Worley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book, it became my all time favorite. This book is fabulous in every single way. "If All the Animals Came Inside" is a book about a family of five. The main character is the big brother who imagines all of the chaos that would ensue if all kinds of animals came into his house. The entire family, except for the older brother, absolutely hates having all of the animals. The older brother is having a great time, until his facial expressions change towards the end. Near the end you can tell that it isn't so much fun for him anymore, and that he would be satisfied with just having his cat and dog. Although the text on the pages is not very long, the book seems to be a bit lengthy in terms of pages. I think first and second grade would love this if it was done as a read aloud. As a teacher I would add expressions and ask lots of questions about what the children see in the pictures to make sure they stayed engaged. Second graders could also read this individually. I think they would love to have the book in their own hands so they could examine the photos. This book is incredibly humorous and and fun. Not only is the text phenomenal, but the pictures are outstanding! Each page is full of all kinds of vibrant colors. The images have a mixture of both hard and soft lines. The images are also filled with patterns (there are lots of stripes and polka dots). The illustrations take up the majority of each page so that there is little white/empty space. The photos go nicely with the text that is provided. The text is silly, and so are the pictures. Although there are multiple reasons I adore the illustrations in this book, the main reason I would choose this book for the 2013 Caldecott is due to the use of multiple medias. This book has a mixture real photographs that have been cut and pasted, drawing (possibly with crayon or colored pencil), and what appears to be watercolors. The cover is no exception. Kids will be drawn to this book simply by looking at the chaos and fun and that is portrayed on the cover. Again, I absolutely love this book and cannot wait to use it one day in my classroom!

[Kacy Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If All Of The Animals Came Inside” is a very fun book to read. It is about a boy who images what it would be like if all of these different animals came inside his house. He imagines how messy it would be. The elephants, giraffes, and monkeys would be knocking everything over and making big messes. His parents would not enjoy it and it would scare his sister. At the end of the book he realizes life is good with just having a cat and a dog inside his house.

This book is aimed at younger kids. It could help introduce being careful what you wish for. Kids, and adults too, sometimes think that something sounds so great, but then when it actually happens it is not what they imagined. It can be a lot more complicated than the simple idea of wishing for it.

The pictures are a lot of fun too. The illustrator incorporates actual pictures with animated ones. For example, the father is wearing a flannel shirt that really looks like a flannel shirt, but his face, arms, and watch are completely animated. The animals are not just one color. The elephant is not just gray. He is different colors of gray with different textures on him. It is fun to take a closer look at the pictures and look at how the illustrator created each of the animals, people, and objects.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a fun book to read and look at. The pictures are amazing and the story is cute. The title of the book is a question that I am sure some kids have thought about, like “what if I had a pet giraffe?” This is a fun book to explore what it might be like to have all of the animals you see at the zoo living in your house.


Pinder, Eric, and Marc Tolon Brown. If all the animals came inside. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Print.

[Melinda]

Pinder, E., & Brown, M. (2012). If all the animals came inside. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Picture Book

This book asks kids to imagine what would happen at home if various animals came inside - these are not your everyday cats and dogs, but pandas, yaks, elephants and giraffes. Needless to say, some chaos is created when Dad sits down on a porcupine and an octopus tries to take a bath.

The text is written in clever rhyming format, with great “sound” words like “rumble, jumble, pounce, bounce,” and “lunch, munch, burp, crunch.” This book would be great for a read aloud because of all the fun use of language. It also lends itself to portions for kids to say aloud because one phrase is repeated at the end of each page…”The walls would tremble, the cupboards would shake (this part of the line is switched out to match the drawings on each page) Oh, what a terrible mess we would make!”

The illustrations have almost a collage feel, and in fact, on most pages there is an actual photograph of something (a sandwich, a teddy bear) mixed in with the illustrations.

This would be a great read aloud for younger kids - and be a source of imaginative scenarios of their own. In the end of the book, the kids realize that while the idea of all those crazy creatures in the house sounds fun, they are satisfied with their dog and kitten.

Question: I would ask the kids to think of other animals that might come inside, and imagine the chaos that that particular animal might cause. They could write and illustrate their own version of the story with each kid supplying a page.

[April Voss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helps children realize that as much as they may want to have all the animals inside the house with them, it just wouldn't work out. In a humorous way the author shows readers all the trouble animals can cause if they are let in the house. This book is full of rhyming that gets even young children interested and is a good tool for teaching children to read. The media used for this book is collage, giving the pictures an interesting texture. There is something new to be spotted every time this book is read. The color is something else that really involves readers and listeners. It is bright and cheery, which really helps portray the story even more. The illustrator uses up the majority of the space, which is something that gives the reader more to look at and look forward to. This would definitely be a book that I would put in the classroom library for students to read or look at. I might also read it aloud to very young children.

[Alyssa Peschong · Rating 5 out of 5]

•Artistic Media: Cut paper collage, gouache, sculptural, & painterly
•Summary: Animals of all shapes and sizes burst through the front door and make themselves right at home.
•Analysis of Three Elements of Illustration:
-Collage: The illustrations had a feeling of texture. There was also a realistic image on each of the pages along with the cartoon style illustrations.
-Movement & Rhythm: The images are all over the pages showing the ruckus the animals are causing. The rhyming verses of the text go along with the illustrations.
-Artistic Media/Technique: The small details get lost in the texture created by the mixed media. The technique shows how the boy is happy in the beginning that the animals are coming inside but at the end the illustrations show how he is aggravated with the animals.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is all fun and games to have animals in the house, but the minute you wish to watch television or play with your own toys the fun ends. So goes the day when you invite the animals to come in and play.

A cute story about how not everything is as fun as it first seems, mom and dad are mad and your sister hides, but the panda and elephants are having fun.

A nice book that allows your young one to giggle along at the antics of animals in the house, and to learn that not all ideas are as fun as they first seem.

[Erin Chambers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book, I am definitely purchasing this book. The illustrations are brilliant. I enjoyed the color of the illustrations, the random pictures of real looking items throughout, the pattern and texture of the illustrations are awesome. This is one of the best children's books I have had the pleasure to read, along with Small Bunnys Blue Blanket. This book can be used as a teaching tool because it rhymes and every page has the same ending sentence making it predictable. My kids were very involved when I read this book, it was a wonderful experience.

[Elizabeth Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's tempting to bring home all the animals we encounter in our world. This book gives children a chance to see the chaos that would occur if we really did bring them all home. Most animals are best left in their natural environment, but children will enjoy the chance to see what can happen if they do move in with us. The story is lyrical and fun with dynamic, colorful and animated illustrations. Marc Brown gives so much life to the story with his lively paper collage that is full of texture and dimension. Very fun book.

[Sarah Frobisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny and so stinking cute. I loved this book, and kids are bound to crack up and the hilarious text and funny pictures. This book explores what would happen in a household if all the animals came inside- elephants, bears, whales...you name it...come inside to play with the young boy, whose parents are in disbelief and a bit of despair :) The rhyming and repetitive text is sure to draw in your little one.

[Tracie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young boy imagines the chaos (and fun!) that would ensue in a house full of animals.

I'm smitten with the brightly colored illustrations--which combine photos with textured collages--but inconsistencies within the text and plot prevent me from "loving" or "really liking" the book as a whole. Nevertheless, this is a fun romp propelled by a rollicking rhyme scheme that preschoolers will appreciate.

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious laugh out loud read for kids! Can you imagine what would happen with the animals came inside? When you pick up this fun read you'll find out just the kind of mess they're make. Believe me, it's a big one! The rhyming, and colorful illustrations make for this book a delightfully enticing read for fans of all ages.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice progression from exuberant joy at the animals' chaos to it all not being that much fun after all. Bouncy refrain. One quibble...the premise of this book is "IF" the animals came inside, but the last verse switches to "WHEN" all the animals came inside. The inconsistency is bugging me a little, though perhaps I'm supposed to wonder if it REALLY HAPPENED AFTER ALL.

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marc Brown did a great job with the illustrations in this book. The texture that you see is fun and the expressions are great. The story rhymes and there is some repetition. The story is about a boy who imagines what it would be like if all sorts of animals showed up at his house and what would ensue. Lots of craziness that is for certain.