A charming take on the well-known nursery rhyme that recasts its timid protagonist as a strong, capable heroine.
Miss Muffet proves that there is more to fear than itty-bitty spiders.
In this adorable update to the nursery rhyme about a girl who’s a bit of an arachnophobe, brave Miss Muffet eats a delicious bowl of curds and whey. Nothing is going to scare her away—no, not a spider, nor a tiger, nor a bear, nor a crocodile, nor a dragon. The unseen narrator assumes the girl will bolt in terror (“And frightened Miss Muffet away!”), but this levelheaded cutie isn’t about to get the willies over some silly creatures, and the narrator responds in confusion (“Wait! What’s going on here? Miss Muffet, aren’t you afraid?”). It’s an old-fashioned tale with a tilt, and adding to the carnival-ride thrill of the book are the vibrant illustrations. Beckett brings the story to life with bright colors, swirls, and exaggerated character reactions. This will be a delight to read aloud or read alone. Miss Muffet is brown-skinned with dark pigtails. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming take on the well-known nursery rhyme that recasts its timid protagonist as a strong, capable heroine. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7607-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Unimpeachable.
A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop’s fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful.
A mouse, narrowly escaping an owl at dawn, skitters up what prove to be a male lion’s tail and back. Lion releases Mouse in a moment of bemused gentility and—when subsequently ensnared in a poacher’s rope trap—reaps the benefit thereof. Pinkney successfully blends anthropomorphism and realism, depicting Lion’s massive paws and Mouse’s pink inner ears along with expressions encompassing the quizzical, hapless and nearly smiling. He plays, too, with perspective, alternating foreground views of Mouse amid tall grasses with layered panoramas of the Serengeti plain and its multitudinous wildlife. Mouse, befitting her courage, is often depicted heroically large relative to Lion. Spreads in watercolor and pencil employ a palette of glowing amber, mouse-brown and blue-green. Artist-rendered display type ranges from a protracted “RRROAARRRRRRRRR” to nine petite squeaks from as many mouselings. If the five cubs in the back endpapers are a surprise, the mouse family of ten, perched on the ridge of father lion’s back, is sheer delight.
Unimpeachable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-01356-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses...
This tan-skinned, freckle-faced narrator extols her own virtues while describing the challenges of being of mixed race.
Protagonist Lilly appears on the cover, and her voluminous curly, twirly hair fills the image. Throughout the rhyming narrative, accompanied by cartoonish digital illustrations, Lilly brags on her dark skin (that isn’t very), “frizzy, wild” hair, eyebrows, intellect, and more. Her five friends present black, Asian, white (one blonde, one redheaded), and brown (this last uses a wheelchair). This array smacks of tokenism, since the protagonist focuses only on self-promotion, leaving no room for the friends’ character development. Lilly describes how hurtful racial microaggressions can be by recalling questions others ask her like “What are you?” She remains resilient and says that even though her skin and hair make her different, “the way that I look / Is not all I’m about.” But she spends so much time talking about her appearance that this may be hard for readers to believe. The rhyming verse that conveys her self-celebration is often clumsy and forced, resulting in a poorly written, plotless story for which the internal illustrations fall far short of the quality of the cover image.
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses the mark on both counts. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63233-170-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eifrig
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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