BILL MARTIN JR (1916-2004) is known worldwide for his classic picture books, including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, both illustrated by Eric Carle, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, illustrated by Lois Ehlert.
VLADIMIR RADUNSKY has illustrated many books for
children, including his own I Love You Dude and The Mighty
Asparagus, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of
the Year and a Child Magazine Best Book of the Year. He lives in
Italy.
The slapstick humor and fast-paced action of this version of an old rhyme begin immediately on the cover: "Fire! Fire!" shouts the title as the WXYZ Helicopter news team spots the smoke. In signature rhymed verse, one line per page, Martin supplies the simple dialogue ("`Where? Where?' said Mrs. Bear. `Downtown,' said Mrs. Brown") while Egielski fills the pages with tumultuous events and a modern-and human-cast of characters. Mrs. Bear is a Carol Channing look-alike wearing an enormous fur hat and coat, and Mrs. Kitty ("What a pity!") is a bespectacled waif with an apartment filled with cats. Throughout, the women star: Mrs. Kopp ("Near the top!") is a police officer directing the crowd, and Mrs. Chi ("Let me see!"), a photographer, records the events. At the end of the book, the men and women firefighters find to their surprise that the smoke is caused by the many candles on old Mrs. Wear's birthday cake. From beginning to end, Egielski's rumble-tumble stage business and inventive subplots combine with Martin's comic puns and rhythmic verve to make this picture book a five-alarm de-light. Ages 2-6. (Mar.)
PreS-Gr 1‘The pace is rigorous, the rhymes are silly, and the all-female cast is strong as these women track down the cause of smoke and ultimately discover it to be a birthday cake for an octogenarian. The text is adapted from an old American nursery rhyme. The one-line-to-a-page verse keeps the pages turning as readers chase down the fire with Mrs. Kelp, Mrs. Kopp, and Mrs. Orr (an amazon of a woman), among others. Egielski's broadly humored, jam-packed illustrations expand the text thoroughly. He creates each character's role‘the firefighter, the cop, the photographer, the babe‘to its fullest. From the declaration of "Fire!" by Mrs. McGuire to the fall of the McDavis family, everything is visually on the go with people running, crowds gathering, and cats flying. This book will encourage multiple readings as children choose to rejoin the wild adventure. The abrupt, out-of-sync ending will surprise even seasoned readers, at best into a laugh, at worst into a puzzled frown. They'll probably end up inventing their own wacky rhymes.‘Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
