Review Detail

5.0 1

Oh Dear, Look What I Got!

Kids Fiction 269

Perfect for Storytime Recitation

October 12, 2025 (Updated: June 19, 2026)

Overall rating

3.5

Plot

3.0

Characters

3.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

A child goes to market to purchase a number of supplies, but at every turn is given the wrong item, in a ridiculously over-the-top fashion. After each trip, the refrain is repeated "Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No, I do NOT!" After trailing through town followed b y a parrot, cat, goat, snake, and bear, he is given a puppy who causes a cascading catastrophe. Safely at home, all the vendors he visited show up with the items he actually wanted.

Good Points

This follows the tradition of traditional tales like The House that Jack Built as well as Rosen and Oxenbury's We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Purposefully fanciful and silly, with formulaic language that is perfect for reciting aloud, this story bounces along with humor and comfortable predictability in the face of all of the surprises.

Oxenbury's artwork has a classic feel to it, with watercolor and pencil illustrations in warm, comforting hues. The animals are very realistic, and the shops depicted with spare details against the white background.

Fans of Rosen's titles like Book of Very Silly Poems or Book of Nonsense will find this right up their alley (with a side trip into a corner shop), and readers who love Oxenbury's illustrations in her Tom and Pippo series of Baby Beginning Board books will be glad that she has once again collaborated with Rosen.