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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

I think most Iraninans know this story as we studied it at school at an early age. It makes me so proud to see this story written in another language so that the knowledge and wisdom is introduced to peoples of other tongues and cultures. It makes me even more proud because the person responsible, is me dear dear school friend Susan.

Hi, Thanks for your very cool review. Of all the books that I have illustrated this is certainly one of my favorites. Do check out my website for more of my books, especially my first authored and illustrated book. “Josuting with Jesters”.

Cheers, Martin Springett.

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hi my names yasra and i would just like to say that this book is absolutely brilliant. during this school term we have had ghanian students come to our school to see what education is like here (in england). lets get to the point on this evning named the globe (a multiculterul event) we read through this book and we performed a play on this it turned out to be brilliant.
we had perfect story and perfect timeing. it took us 9 whole school days to perform this. it was a great challenge but we had great fun listen to it. my favourite carector is the anzu bird its sooo cool. an amazing book!

Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon! With a name like that, i thought it would have indelible, cryptic messages for my kid to go the vegetarian way. The 6 year old wanted a dragon fantasy book and i thought, cynicism aside, it was perfect with the vivid, detailed illustrations and lessons on acceptance.

Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon is a dragon fantasy book / fairy tale about reaching out to others and accepting everyone for what they are. I agree, the book is not as comprehensive as Beyond This Point There Be Dragons but the kid loved it and that made my day. Everytime we pour through the book excitedly, the illustrations always have something new we had not spotted before. Well, despite my initial fears, the book is wonderful and well thought of. But the highlight is the illustrations.

This is a great book. It is a simple and fun read for the kids that gives them insight to the importance of the underground railroad. I used it with a class of third grade students and it helped them to understand the clues slaves used to travel the underground railroad. At the end of the book the words to the song and sheet music is available. Our music teacher learned the music and song and taught the students it during music class. It was great! The kids still know the song one year later.

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I enjoyed being introduced to this book, because I teach first graders and need books that relate to other cultures and how the other cultures adapt to their environments. The setting of the book is perfect for discussions about clothing and food from the far north regions of the world.

The main character is about the age of my students. This is a definite asset as my children can better relate to the feelings and emotions of a child their own age. The understand the relationships between grandmas and grandchildren. They can appreciate how creative it was for the little girl to make dolls that would help to solve a problem.

The magical portion of the book tickles the grown child in me and delights my students. Dancing with dolls in the moonlight sounds heavenly!

Exposure to new languages is fun for young children who are still exploring learning their own language. The foreign words giggle out of the mouth of the little girl and delight all of the readers.

Thank you finding a book for me that I may not have found without your help.

Margaret,
Thank you for such a great interview. You nailed some of my thoughts about us tip-toeing around the dark and grimy parts of life in our books. And I can’t wait for your next book.
Teri

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