Like busy moles, we humans dig an awful lot of holes to get things done, in the ground, in our oceans, and even in our bathrooms! We dig holes in sandboxes to play games with friends, on ancient sites to discover awesome treasure and fossils, and on farms to plant the food we eat. Unfortunately, we also dig holes that aren’t so wholesome―holes that rip apart the ground, spill dangerous chemicals, and permanently damage the earth. Going on this way means digging nature into a deeper hole, but used correctly, our shovels and machines might be able to help our planet instead of destroy it. In whimsical rhyme and delightfully strange illustrations, these moles unearth the good and bad excitement happening beneath our feet, exposing our huge environmental impact and urging us to put our harmful ways back under construction. K-Gr 2-Badger's picture book debut has a well-intentioned message: Some excavation is good, much is ecologically bad. Tiny cute cartoon-like moles operate diggers; poop into pipes; rise from the cemetery, becoming minute zombies; hunker in a nuclear bunker. But uncertain prosody undermines the rhythm, and strained rhymes produce vague phrases: Are we worried that the future "may not be kind," or that it will be absolutely unlivable? Does an oil spill at sea merely "cause a commotion"? The conclusion is especially problematic: An urban setting is shown as polluted (though environmentalists advocate human density as preferable to sprawl), while beneath a garden scene the text urges that "With the help of all the moles/ let's make something more than holes." The busy underground cross-sections, borrowing from ant farms, dictate one-on-one reading. VERDICT Maze-crazy readers will like tracing the excavations, though adult environmentalists might well fault the overall product for the lack of message, which leaves readers without specific steps or solutions.-Patricia D. Lothrop, formerly at St. George's Sch., Newport, RIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Like busy moles, we humans dig an awful lot of holes to get things done, in the ground, in our oceans, and even in our bathrooms! We dig holes in sandboxes to play games with friends, on ancient sites to discover awesome treasure and fossils, and on farms to plant the food we eat. Unfortunately, we also dig holes that aren?t so wholesome?holes that rip apart the ground, spill dangerous chemicals, and permanently damage the earth. Going on this way means digging nature into a deeper hole, but used correctly, our shovels and machines might be able to help our planet instead of destroy it. In whimsical rhyme and delightfully strange illustrations, these moles unearth the good and bad excitement happening beneath our feet, exposing our huge environmental impact and urging us to put our harmful ways back under construction. Springer Badger favored a simple, clean art style for this book to make the busy spreads easy for readers to understand. They earned a BFA in Illustration from the University of Central Missouri and are currently finishing an MFA in Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating at Hollins University. They currently live in Salem, Massachusetts. This is their debut picture book.