Can't Catch Me

September 4, 2006
In the Hassetts' (Cat Up a Tree) version of The Gingerbread Man, the runaway provocateur is an impudent ice cube. "Come back... you must cool my lemonade," says a boy to the cube as it leaps from the freezer. But the ice-blue cube has titanic plans: "I'm off to the sea, where I will grow as big as an iceberg and bump into boats when they are not looking." Aided by its jaunty red running shoes, the cube hops, skips and jumps to the bay, while its line of pursuers grows to include a dog, a popsicle man, a goose, a cat, a mouse and an ant. The coup de grace belongs to a wily whale, who "knew a frosty snack when he saw one" and swallows the cube in one gulp. A macabre undercurrent gives John Hassett's artwork an urbane appeal (with a hint of Charles Addams) and he obviously has great fondness for his gleeful, slightly sweaty anti-hero. But the chasers' motivations feel too mundane to give the story much momentum (the popsicle man, for example, wants to use the cube to keep his ice cream from melting) and the cube often gets lost in the busier, wide-frame spreads. (And why doesn't the cube melt?) Ages 5-8.

October 1, 2006
PreS-Gr 2-In this offbeat retelling of The Gingerbread Man, an ice cube hops out of a freezer, saying Cant catch me, /]Im off to the sea. Perhaps his dreams of bumping into boats arise from a little boys crayon drawings of boats (one being hit by an iceberg) on the refrigerator. Although the day is hot, this perky little piece of ice stops for no onenot Boy, for whose lemonade it was intended, or Ant, who wants to get his ice skates, or the (literally) hot dog, or the goose that would like to get goose bumps. This fractured fairy tale is equal in its silliness and whimsical artwork to the Hassetts "The Three Silly Girls Grubb" (Houghton, 2002). The warm colors of the illustrations, unusual perspectives, and smiling ice cube add to the visual appeal. The unusual protagonists repeated refrain and the humorous wordplay make this tale especially suited for sharing aloud."Robin L. Gibson, Granville Parent Cooperative Preschool, OH"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 23, 2006
In the Hassetts' (Cat Up a Tree) version of The Gingerbread Man, the runaway provocateur is an impudent ice cube. "Come back... you must cool my lemonade," says a boy to the cube as it leaps from the freezer. But the ice-blue cube has titanic plans: "I'm off to the sea, where I will grow as big as an iceberg and bump into boats when they are not looking." Aided by its jaunty red running shoes, the cube hops, skips and jumps to the bay, while its line of pursuers grows to include a dog, a popsicle man, a goose, a cat, a mouse and an ant. The coup de grace belongs to a wily whale, who "knew a frosty snack when he saw one" and swallows the cube in one gulp. A macabre undercurrent gives John Hassett's artwork an urbane appeal (with a hint of Charles Addams) and he obviously has great fondness for his gleeful, slightly sweaty anti-hero. But the chasers' motivations feel too mundane to give the story much momentum (the popsicle man, for example, wants to use the cube to keep his ice cream from melting) and the cube often gets lost in the busier, wide-frame spreads. (And why doesn't the cube melt?) Ages 5-8.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.