A competent retelling of the old tale of a farmer and his wife who switch roles for a day, with disastrous results for the farmer. Madden sticks relatively closely to standard versions. Convinced that he does more than his share of the hard work, Shon tries to kick back one day after his wife Sian sets out for the fields. However, thanks to general ignorance about housework and a habit of leaving taps and doors open, by dinnertime he’s made a fearful mess. Hess pumps up the energy by posing livestock suspended in mid-air amid rolling perspectives, adding a decidedly non-rustic air to the farmhouse by decorating it with Persian rugs and modernist art. That sets it apart, at least a little, from the many previous renditions, earning it a place next to Wanda Gag’s Gone Is Gone (1935), P.C. Asbjornsen’s Man Who Kept House, illustrated by Svend Otto S (1992), and Eric Kimmel’s Easy Work!, illustrated by Andrew Glass (1998). (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-84507-374-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2006
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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