OLD MOTHER HUBBARD

Cabrera (Dog’s Day, 2000, etc.) illustrates this abbreviated adaptation of the nursery rhyme with broadly brushed, vibrantly colored scenes. Large, hand-lettered text complements illustrations that look like they were slathered on with finger-paints, in a perfect child-like style. Here is a hungry but irrepressible little terrier cavorting about while a cat looks on in alarm—or annoyance after being forcibly bathed—and Mother Hubbard shops for a coat, hat, wig, and shoes for him, even though “the cupboard is bare.” Cabrera has made some adjustments: the dog doesn’t die, even temporarily, and the ending has become a real crowd-pleaser. Instead of the original’s now-stilted pleasantries, upon her return Mother Hubbard whips out a HUGE bone, crowing, “Your supper!”—prompting an ecstatic “Bow-Wow!” in response. Ex-toddlers will eat this up. (Picture book. 3-6)