Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4^-8. Kellogg offers a hilarious picture book about how silly even the most serious of us can sometimes be. A man who goes courting a farmer's daughter decides that the farmer, his wife, and the girl are so incredibly silly, he can't marry the daughter until he finds three sillier people. Only the farm cat seems to have a problem with this snobby plan. The man has no trouble finding silly people wherever he goes, and his wedding day reveals him as the "Silliest silly in the land." The illustrations are so full of detail and humor that each look reveals something new. The book mixes nonsense words such as kangaroof and hoofenheap and sophisticated words such as churl and berserk. There are characters who say, "I sally forth with pants unfurled," and those who spend time "a-thinking." This is a retelling of an 1890s folktale, and the bizarre use of language and grammar makes it feel like oral storytelling at its best. --Marta Segal
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Kellogg (Paul Bunyan; Johnny Appleseed) here serves up a rollicking farce inspired by a selection from Joseph Jacobs's 19th-century English Fairy Tales, with roots in the Brothers Grimm's "Clever Else." The narrative tells of a gentleman who is courting a farmer's daughter. When first the suitor's sweetheart, then her parents, disappear into the cellar one by one, he discovers the trio "A-sobbing and a-screeching and a-swimming in the cellar full of cider" (for quite a silly reason). He then sets out on horseback to "find three sillies who are even sillier than you three," and after he does, he returns to marry the daughter. Kellogg exploits the oddball scenarios to the fullest as he portrays an old woman trying to boost her cow onto her cottage roof ("to eat the weeds that were a-growing there") and a group of "a-whining, a-whimpering, and a-wailing" villagers who, spying the moon's reflection in a pond, believe it has tumbled from the sky. His riotous ink and watercolor illustrations spill over with preposterous particulars, including the antics and wisecracks of assorted opinionated animals. Presented in balloons, rhyming commentary from a boisterous chorus of townsfolk adds to the cheerful mayhem. Ages 5-10. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-In this zany retelling of a familiar folktale, a suitor discovers that his potential betrothed and her family suffer from a severe affliction of the sillies. He sets out on a journey, promising to return only if he can find three people sillier than they are. In rapid succession, he meets an old woman who insists on grazing her cow on the roof, a man with a highly unusual way of donning his trousers, and an entire village of moonstruck fools. He returns to marry and suffers a near (but predictable) tragedy; a resultant pint-sized silly promises a lifetime of outrageous adventures. Kellogg's ink-and-watercolor illustrations are wonderfully suited to the goofy goings-on. From full-page spreads to small boxed action sequences, the bumptious characters and talking animals engage in glorious mayhem. The many visual references to previous stories by Kellogg will delight fans. While the telling itself is simple and straightforward, the dialogue balloons and plentiful asides add greatly to the humor. Kathryn Hewitt's porcine version (Harcourt, 1989) and Paul Galdone's classic (Clarion, 1981) are sedate compared to this rollicking good time. Best shared one-on-one so the myriad details will not be missed.-Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary) A well-known English folktale, previously adapted in picture-book form by creators such as Paul Galdone and Margot Zemach, now gets a bright and busy interpretation from Steven Kellogg. In a rural historical setting, a gentleman with a plumed hat and very little fashion sense courts a farmer's daughter. One day, while drawing cider, the young woman sees a mallet resting in the beams of her cellar and begins ""a-thinking."" Speculating that she and the gentleman might someday marry and might possibly have a son who could eventually go to the cellar and get ""donked"" on the head by this mallet, she begins ""a-crying."" Soon her parents join in the waterworks and the gentleman vows he won't return to marry the girl until he can find ""three sillies even sillier than you are."" His journey leads him to an elderly woman who hoists a cow onto her thatched roof then leashes the animal to her wrist, a young man who doesn't know that everyone really does put their pants on one leg at a time, and an entire town trying to scoop the moon out of a pond, not realizing they are looking at a reflection. The tale is told with great humor, though randomly placed bits of repetition, rhyme, and alliteration yank the style around a bit. The dialogue, which is related in caption balloons, also sacrifices consistency for chuckles, as when a smart-aleck cat adds contemporary-sounding comments such as ""get lost, Bozo."" But the ink-and-watercolor illustrations are filled with movement as well as funny details-such as toilet plungers and chickens wearing top hats-that will get kids a-looking; the silly story will have them a-laughing. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A foolish hero, a featherbrained heroine, and a bevy of muddle-headed characters lead the cast in this wry retelling from Kellogg (The Three Little Pigs, 1997, etc.). When a buffoonish gentlemen courts a young maiden, he discovers that silliness is epidemic in her family. While getting some cider, the young maiden daydreams about her pending marriage, the birth of her son, his growth to manhood, and his death when a mallet "donks" him on the head. She begins crying, relates the sorry scenario to her parents, and sets them sobbing, too. The gentlemen sets out to find three people sillier than his future wife and in-laws, a task that is easier than he imagined, and he returns willingly to their fold. A close encounter with the mallet during the wedding festivities serves the gentleman a slice of crow as he ultimately appears the most foolish of all. Kellogg's bright, cartoon-like illustrations coupled with the hilarious captions make for a raucous tale that pokes fun at the foibles of those who count themselves as serious. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
