Dennis and the Big Clean-Up

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Dennis is a dragon who lives in Dragonville. When he receives an
invitation from his parents to come home for a barbecue, he eagerly
accepts. When he arrives home, however, he finds Ma and Pa Dragon on the
porch pitching junk into their front yard, which is already waist deep
in debris.

Dennis decides to get rid of the junk. First he buries it underground,
but two subterranean creatures push it right back up again. Next he
throws the junk into the sea, but this time a school of fish throws it
back. Finally Dennis ties all the junk to a rocket and blasts it to
Planet BoPeep, but the BoPeepians return it by flying saucer express.
Confronted by trash that won’t stash, Dennis is forced to rethink his
strategy. With a little ingenuity, plus some glue and nails, Dennis
finds a way to recycle every piece of garbage into new furniture.

Although Raeside’s illustrations are fun, the text suffers from a
lack of consistency. It starts off in alternating rhyming couplets, but
soon breaks down. By the end of the book, it is hard to notice that
there was supposed to be a rhyme scheme somewhere. Finally, this book
just might have been a bit more convincing if it had been published on
recycled paper. Recommended with reservations.