Three well-known tales featuring the big bad wolf, retold in witty, rhythmic rap and cleverly linked. ``He blows at his foes till his lungs feel all tattered./The pigs feel exposed `cause their house has been scattered''—but though the wolf's ``got a plan/For house infiltratin','' he's a natty dresser who boggles at the soot in the chimney and sets out for ``Little Red's'' Grandma's in hopes of an easier meal. These two feisty contemporary females also outwit him, and Red insults him, too: though he's ``feeling sort of pretty in the old lady's lace,'' she says, ``you look foolish and ugly in Granny's nightgown.'' Swearing off little girls, the wolf has better luck with junk food—at a bakery where a foolish boy has just shouted, untruthfully, ``Fire!''—so that no one believes that a wolf is devouring his doughnuts. It's all good, nonviolent fun, much abetted by Lewin's marvelous cartoon-style illustrations. Freely drawn in broad, relaxed lines that often capture a subtle nuance in a single stroke—the set of Red's mouth, the droop of a wolf's whisker—they add a lot to the characterizations and humor. Irresistible for reading aloud. (Picture book. 4-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30452-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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