Review by Booklist Review
A fairy tale in which the fairies get fired, MacDonald's take on a Scottish-Irish folktale starts with an old woman who hates housework. A voice from outside calls ( Your luck has come! Open the door! / Let me in and you'll work no more! ), and soon several fairies have taken over her house, doing all the chores to which the old woman has grown accustomed. When she yells Fairies STOP! because they're so rackety, they proceed to take apart all they have done, so that they can start all over again. The sound effects from clankety clankety to swishety swishety make this a fun read-aloud, and Mitchell's full-of-green pictures are engaging domestic scenes with a little fairy dust thrown in. The tale ends with the old woman luring the sprites outside and incapacitating household objects so that they can't help the fairies back in. As the knitting needles say, We're stuck in the yarn; we cannot get out! The last page features the happy old woman alone with her chores.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-An old woman grumbles, "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" Her complaining soon brings four fairies to her door to perform her chores-washing dishes, sweeping, making the bed, and knitting. But all of the help still can't stop her from complaining about all the noise the fairies are making: "clankety, clankety," "swishety, swishety," "lumpety, flumpety," and "clickety clickety." "These fairies are driving me crazy!" she laments. But when she tells them to stop, they begin to reverse all of their chores, tearing everything apart. A visit to the village wise one teaches the complaining old woman a lesson about being content with her own situation. This Scottish folktale is subtle but effective in its message of humility. The illustrations are folksy and warm with amusing detail. Notable are the old woman's pointed shoes, the fairies' woodland-creature apparel, and the animation of ordinary household items. A fun read-aloud.-C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KY (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
An old woman grumbles and complains about housework--and fairies appear to do it for her. At first it's wonderful, but as soon as they finish a chore, they undo it and start afresh--over and over. At last the village wise woman provides a solution, and the old woman never complains again. Understated and humorous watercolor illustrations accompany this amusing retelling. (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
The magic in this Celtic cognate to "It Could Always Be Worse," summoned by an old woman's complaints about her housework, comes in the shape of crazy-cleaning fairies, who, as soon as they have washed the dishes, swept the floor, made the bed and done the knitting, undo all their work so they can start again. The village wise woman gives the old woman the right advice to both get rid of the fairies and stop her complaints. Using strong construction and repetition in all the right places, the simple text is so artfully composed that it is ready-made for retelling, from the old woman's cantankerous "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" to the onomatopoeic clankety, swishety, flumpety and clickety noises made by the fairies gone berserk. Mitchell's watercolors reflect the text too sweetly, without enough visual clues to make the cute gossamer-winged, roly-poly mischief-makers convincing nuisances, and even the crotchety old woman doesn't look very crotchety. Taken alone, master storyteller MacDonald's work shines. (Picture book/folklore. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
