Review by Booklist Review
In this fun twist on classic stories, characters like Humpty Dumpty, Papa Bear, the Big Bad Wolf, and others intertwine in unexpected ways. Here an old woman who lives not in a shoe but in a book on a shelf can't find her children. Her search leads to neighboring storybook houses, each a different character's home, including the Three Bears, who mention Papa Bear's porridge has oddly disappeared. Progressively, others join the endeavor (all helpfully being transported by Papa Bear), and while none have seen the old woman's children, all are likewise missing something, from Princess Beauty's candelabra to house-building Pig's sticks. But eventually, in the forest, revelations, happy reunions, and festive celebration come for everyone. The short, lively main narrative is further boosted with interspersed speech bubbles, which expand and advance events, and vibrant, cartoonish illustrations, which incorporate comical details, varying perspectives, and artfully integrated book and fairy tale elements, like Jack's beanstalk, depicted wending up from an open book's pages. While specific titles aren't identified, the playful approach will likely amuse and entertain kids familiar with the classic tales.--Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The fairy tale goes meta in this convoluted mystery about an "old woman" searching for her six missing children. When she sets out into the family's bookshelf neighborhood to find them, her quest takes her in and out of various classic nursery rhymes and children's stories that involve everyone from the three bears to Jack and Jill to Humpty Dumpty. Each character the woman meets reports that something important of theirs is missing, too (one of the three pigs is without a bundle of sticks, and the Wicked Witch is missing her supper). After the (rather predictable) culprit is revealed, the seekers reclaim their lost treasures, and the woman's children and partner turn up. The detailed illustrations have a digital, cartoonlike quality and cleverly incorporate books themselves as objects, but arid writing ("Excuse me, Bears. Did my kids pass by here?") and slack plotting are never quite overcome. Ages 3--6. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fairy-tale and nursery-rhyme characters work together to solve a mystery of disappearing belongings and missing children.The story's clever concept references that famous Old Woman who lived in a shoe, but here the woman lives in a book-shaped house on a bookshelf along with many other well-known children's-story characters such as Jack and Jill and the Three Bears. The Old Woman is actually a busy mother of six with springy, gray hair and a lively demeanor. When she discovers her children are missing, she visits the other book houses on the shelf to ask for help. Each of the characters is missing something, and they all follow along as a group to search for their items and the children. The Big Bad Wolf is the culprit, predictably, and the children are found hiding from him in the branches of surrounding trees along with their father, the Old Man of "knick-knack paddywhack" fame. The characters celebrate at a concluding party with treats provided by the Wicked Witch from her candy-covered cottage. Bright, cartoon-style illustrations are filled with amusing details from all the nursery-rhyme and fairy-tale settings. Though the buoyant illustrations and plot move along in a sprightly fashion, however, the dialogue (conveyed in speech bubbles) is rather pedestrian. The Old Woman and her children present white; some of the other human characters seem to be diverse.A fun-filled fractured-fairy-tale frolic. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
