Author: Tony Ross (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Tony Ross
Published: 2004 Andersen Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1842703382 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Thumps, chomps, head butts and the might of the spunky youngest make this refreshingly ridiculous version of the original Grimm’s tale a shockingly fun read.
Other books mentioned:
You can read a version of the original Grimm’s fairy tale here.
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It's been a while, hasn't it? Guess that just means it's time to get back to my bread and butter. My raison d'etre, and all that (pardon my French). Yes, I've been tossing about today's particular HMOCL for some time now in the back of my brain. It's rare that an author gets big, has loads of talent, and yet somehow remained below my radar all this time hotnesswise. Today's feller is a Canuck through and through. My first, if I stop to think about it.
I present to you . . . .
KENNETH OPPEL
And he can brood. Awesome.
His
website, for the record, might serve as a good example for you fellow author/illustrators out there. Look how nicely everything is laid out. First of all, there's a good intro that allows you to skip past if needs be. Then there's the information itself, clearly labeled and colorful. It's got study guides for teachers and up-to-date news. You can even find a way to contact the author. The sole element missing is a blog, but that's all right. There's time enough for that in this world. Plus the guy happens to be a top-notch writer. Those of you who never saw
Airborne (cool Canadian paperback cover too) are missing out. For fun, check out some of the cheapo paperbacks he wrote long ago as
viewable on Wikipedia.
Plus he's totally cute. Like, totally.
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This book sounds like a scream! Can’t wait to get a copy of my own. I was struck by something you said about the violence in this book not being something you’d usually see in a North American title. I wonder if that’s a function of the “Disneyfication” of stories here. The need to make them all end happily ever after. For instance, Disney’s Little Mermaid ends far differently than the original tale in which Ariel turns into sea foam.
Though that can only be a part of the answer.
Hmmmm.
Andrea Beaty
www.AndreaBeaty.com
www.ThreeSillyChicks.com
well… in addition to the wolf trying to get in and eat all the children and the abuse that the little goats heap on the dim-witted wolf, the book ends with the very prim and mild mannered beer drinking mom (I love that, I need to do a SwimmingInLiterarySoup.com episode singing the praises of beer-drinking moms in picture books!) slapping each of her kids.
Not your average 2000-and-something children’s book, but in the context of the millions of other books that we read our children, and in the context of the way we treat our children and the way we are raising them to treat others, it’s a completely hilarious and ridiculously fun read. Reminds me of the anvil-crushing, dynamite exploding coyote and roadrunner days of my pre-CareBare youth!!
Andrea
JOMB wrote, “Reminds me of the anvil-crushing, dynamite exploding coyote and roadrunner days of my pre-CareBare youth!!”
And that, I think, is a very good thing.
Meep! Meep!
Andrea B