Miss Muffet, or What Came After

July 18, 2016
It’s possible to turn a four-line nursery rhyme into an elaborate period verse drama—Singer (Echo Echo) proves it, framing this elegant makeover as a theatrical production, complete with stage directions and musical numbers. Mrs. Muffet wants daughter Patience to be more ladylike, her husband wishes she shared his passion for etymology, but Patience dreams of playing the violin. The famous meeting on the tuffet startles Patience, but Webster the spider proves an unexpected ally. The two leave home, form a trio with Bo-Peep (an aspiring fiddler), foil a pair of thieves (“Prepare yourselves to meet your enemy,” Webster threatens, “You will find me rather venomy”), and finish with an impromptu performance for King Cole. Faced with a plethora of characters with speaking lines (and quite a few lines at that), Litchfield (The Bear and the Piano) keeps the cast straight and the action easy to read, and his rich, mixed-media illustrations and period costumes strike the right light-opera note. Webster and Patience are engaging heroes, and Singer’s verse sparkles. Ages 6–9. Illustrator’s agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Group.

June 15, 2016
An old nursery rhyme expands with great silliness and literary sophistication.Opening with the traditional six-line "Little Miss Muffet," the narrative quickly becomes theatrical--literally. "The curtain opens on a lovely house," say boxed stage directions, which also explain that the maids and gardener will play the chorus, changing costumes according to scene, and that "the narrator remains offstage." Our protagonist's given name is Patience, but she's not your parents' Miss Muffet--nor her parents' Miss Muffet, not quite, rejecting their urges toward primness (mother) and entomology (father). She wants only to fiddle, so--after her mother steals her violin, and Webster the Aranea loucutus (talking spider) helps her find it--they leave home and meet an ever growing cast that includes Bo-Peep (another fiddler!), Old King Cole's court, a rooster, some robbers, and a French poet. In stylized mixed media, Litchfield gives his tiny-footed, bulbous-nosed, elastic-necked white characters enormous speech bubbles for their...songs, perhaps? The text presents poems of myriad types--villanelle, Spanish sestet--which could be read or recited, or, with dedication, could be the script of a grand honking musical. Between the ever changing rhythms and rhyming structures and the alternating (sometimes interrupting!) voices in monologue, dialogue, chorus, and stage direction, reading aloud requires vigilance. Even the rhymes' refinement level varies: "barbarian" with "vegetarian" in the same poem as "enemy" with "venomy." Serious fun whether read or performed. (Picture book. 7-10)

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September 1, 2016

Gr 1-3-Many have thought that poor little Miss Muffet was the sad and dainty victim of a wayward spider. Well, there's much more to her story than curds and whey and running away. Patience Muffet is tired of being asked to conform to society's norms. She is not interested in fancy clothes or arranging flowers, like her mother, nor is she interested in identifying insects, like her father. Her ambition is to master the fiddle. This greatly displeases her mother, and life becomes so miserable that Patience runs away, accompanied by none other than the spider himself! They encounter many adventures and intriguing characters during their journey to find freedom and achievement. Does Patience accomplish her goals and break the mold, or does she return to her expected role? Written as a screenplay for a musical, this picture book is very different in format and compelling. Geared toward older children, this selection would be more easily performed or enjoyed alone, rather than used as a read-aloud. There are many facets to delve into and explore. There is the meat of the story, beautifully told in verse, as well as a musical narration by a trio of observers. In addition, there are stage notes in text boxes that set the scene and conversational text in speech bubbles. All of these elements come together on each page to create a narrative that brims with life. The illustrations, rendered in mixed media, are as intriguing and diverse as the text. VERDICT A richly complex fractured fairly tale well suited for classroom sharing, performance, or readers' theater.-Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

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