AUNT NANCY AND THE BOTHERSOME VISITORS

Aunt Nancy is a granny not to trifle with, whether it’s Cousin Lazybones or Old Man Trouble, or doleful Old Woeful or sly Mister Death doing the trifling. To a one, none can outsmart, outwit or outguess this crusty, clever old woman. The stories in these four chapters are the embodiment of the grit, gumption and glee of good old-fashioned folktales. Take Old Lazybones: He’s so lazy even his shadow won’t follow him. After he gets 17 helpings of lunch and 22 helpings of supper without lifting his big toe, sharp-witted Aunt Nancy can’t seem to get out of bed the next morning. Faced with cookin’ and cleanin’, Lazybones hightails it home. The shrewd artwork stages each episode with a full-color, full-page beginning, then pantomimes the interior scenes with black-and-white silhouettes, which are very effective. The first two stories were previously published individually in 1996, also illustrated by Parkins, but the inventive book design and crafty illustrations are right up Aunt Nancy’s chicken coop and just ripe for a storyteller to sink her teeth into. (Fiction. 7-10)