Review by Booklist Review
We all know what happens to the cradle when the wind blows. But this time, the wind blows really hard, and the baby is blown clear over to the old woman in the shoe! Youngsters familiar with traditional nursery rhymes will delight in meeting old friends in this what-happens-next adventure. Attempting to return the baby to his treetop, the old woman finds the tree covered in woolen mittens, which she tries to take back to the three little kittens only to be almost nailed by Jack and Jill's bucket. Soon all havoc breaks loose: Mary's little lamb tumbles through the air, the money in the king's counting house is strewn all over the street, and Jack's candlestick goes winging past the poor old woman's head. Barrette's curvy watercolor illustrations swing along with Jackson's (Desert Rose and Her Highfalutin' Hog, 2009) rhyming text until the wind blows the entire gang woman, kids, coins, sheep, bucket, baby, and all topsy-turvily back to their rightful places. Great fun for grown-ups and little ones alike.--Willey, Paula Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Extreme weather isn't limited to the real world-it hits the country of nursery rhymes, too, as a gale breaks a famous bough and deposits a rock-a-bye baby on an equally famous shoe. "The woman and children who lived in the shoe/ Were nestled inside, but they knew what to do." They set off to return the baby, discovering missing mittens (and some guilty kittens), a pail, a misplaced sheep that belongs to a girl named Mary... and that's just the beginning. Barrette (Never Ask a Bear) sets the story in a fairytale European village with tiled roofs, a castle, and rolling hills; she captures the storm's force with swirling skirts, waving branches, and flying coins. As in 2001's If the Shoe Fits, Jackson puts nursery world elements together like a crossword puzzle, assembling smart rhymes ("The coins had been swept from the king's counting room,/ And the woman surmised he'd be missing them soon") and clever scenarios, although a moral about acquisitiveness ("From kitten to king, they examined the cost/ Of constantly grasping at things that are lost") has a tacked-on feeling. Ages 4-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Rollicking watercolor portraits of round characters chronicle nursery rhyme mishaps caused by an extended gust. The old woman of the shoe (a pink Victorian boot) and her many children restore treasures like rock-a-bye baby, Mary's lamb, and Jack's candlestick to their rightful places. The rhymed text reminds readers of each origin story and uses rich vocabulary such as "lament," "instrument," and "seize." This companion to If the Shoe Fits (Holt, 2001) provides pleasant reunion with old favorites.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA (c) Copyright 2014. 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
The familiar old woman who lives in a shoe guides all of her children through colorful, topsy-turvy double-page spreads, trying to restore peace after a gust of wind sets off a chaotic sequence of events involving characters and items from one popular nursery rhyme after another. The playful verse, skillfully interwoven tales, and mayhem-packed story line make this a delightful read-aloud choice. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A follow-up to If the Shoe Fits (illustrated by Karla Firehammer, 2001) finds the old womannot so old but cheery and buxomand her many children solving a few dilemmas for other nursery rhyme denizens. The footwear that is their home is quite a fancy shoe, with a lamp affixed to the end of its curled tip. The opening spread sets up the entire story with its panoramic view of shoe, tree with "cradle and all," fields, town, castle and hill with well atop. The wind rocks the cradle so wildly that the wee tot is tumbled out onto the shoe, to be gently caught by the children, who try right away to put baby and cradle back. The tree from which it fell is now festooned with mittens, and the children soon find the desolate, mittenless kittens. As they go along, they find Mary's lamb, Bo Peep's crook, Jack's candlestick, and Jack and Jill's pail (among other items) and eventually restore them to their rightful places. It is all told in verse rhymed with graceverve, evenand illustrated with soft, ballooning figures. The many children of the shoe have round heads and button features, and each is clad in the garb of various and sundry nations and ethnicities. Perspectives swoop and change with the rhythm. There is a moral about "examin[ing] the cost / Of constantly grasping for things that are lost," but it doesn't much get in the way. Children who know the nursery rhymes will enjoy seeing them in a new context, and children who do not can enjoy the rollicking action anyway. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
