Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together

May 1, 2004
K-Gr 3-A companion to the popular You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together (Little, Brown, 2001), this book offers eight fairy tales to inspire a wonderful read-aloud experience for two voices. The color and placement of the text on the pages indicate the different parts. For example, "The Little Red Hen" begins with voice one, in orange type: "I'm Little Red Hen./I planted the wheat./I dug up the soil/In the dust and the heat." Then, voice two, in magenta: "And I am the Duck/And I have to admit/That I did not help her, /Not one little bit." Each tale ends with both participants sharing the refrain: "You read to me./I'll read to you." Hoberman doesn't offer full renditions of the stories, but rather uses the characters and one or two plot elements to create retellings that will entice children and encourage them to keep reading. The selections all have happy endings; in "Jack and the Beanstalk," the ogre agrees to share some of his treasure with the boy, and Little Red Riding Hood takes the Big Bad Wolf out to lunch where they read together while waiting for their food. The verses are rarely forced or faltering, and the two voices join seamlessly together to create a truly delightful reading ensemble. Emberley's humorous illustrations feature expressive characters drawn in pen, watercolor, and pastel, and are liberally scattered throughout the text.-Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, IL

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2004
Gr. 2-4. Like " You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together " (2001)" ," this is an exuberant picture-book read-aloud with short, rhymed, illustrated scenarios for two voices. This time the eight stories are fairy tales--fractured fairy tales--and, as Hoberman says in her introduction, new readers will need to know the originals in order to enjoy the fun. In fact, even seasoned older readers will love the parody. Little Red Riding Hood takes Grandma and a starving wolf to a restaurant for lunch. Goldilocks befriends Baby Bear and takes him home with her to get some porridge (since she ate up all of his). Each story ends with former enemies reading together. Cinderella, for example, invites her gross sisters to live with her in the palace, and they share a good book while the prince reads nearby. Emberley's clear comic-style pictures are hilarious. The big but vulnerable ogre in "Jack and the Beanstalk" has a nose ring and earrings, and a cool Jack in sunglasses and high-heeled boots makes a deal. Great for readers' theater. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

August 6, 2001
John Ciardi's collection of 35 poems with drawings by Edward Gorey is perhaps the best known book with this title (published in 1962); it, too, used the concept of dividing a poem on the page, designed for a more experienced reader to read with a child. Hoberman (One of Each) here creates a collection of 12 rhyming and heavily repetitious dialogues, each one ending with the emphasis on reading together (e.g., "I'll read to you. You'll read to me"; "We'll read together,/ You and I"). In "The Dime," a pig discovers that the coin he found may actually be the lost money of his rabbit friend. A discussion ensues: "Shall we divide the dime in two?"/ "A nickel each? It's up to you."/ Or shall we buy/ One thing to share?"/ "That would be fun, that would fair." Another playful poem, "The Bear," takes on an incredulous tone; when a boy's little brother tells a bear he can spend the night as long as he does not snore, the boy's friend replies, "Your little brother/ Sounds quite brave/ To tell a bear/ How to behave." But while the mood is light, the text never really takes flight. In addition to similar phrases, the rhyme scan is nearly identical in all of the poems; the tone becomes monotonous. However, each of Emberley's (Happy Birth Day!) spot illustrations is unique and, in total, the artwork creates relationships among the characters. Working in watercolor, pen and pastel, he endows his characters with an edgy expressiveness that leaps off the page. Ages 4-up.