The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma

K-Gr 2—Children who liked Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The Stinky Cheese Man (Viking, 1992) or The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! (Viking, 1989) will find that this fractured fairy tale is right up their alley. As Cat attempts to tell Dog the story of "Little Red Riding Hood," Dog constantly interrupts, asking questions and making comments. Cat snaps even before the wolf arrives and yells, "There's NO kindness ray, NO flying basket, and NO exploding eggs. She's just a sweet little girl with terrible fashion sense on her way to see her Grandmother." And on it goes until Dog's parting question, "Is Grandma still in the closet [hiding]?" At this point, Cat throws the book at him. In all fairness to Dog, Grandma's whereabouts after "Little Red Riding Hood's father arrived and chopped off the wolf's head with an axe!" is not specifically mentioned. The illustrations are simple, yet effective, black-and-white line drawings of Cat and Dog highlighted with color bits, such as the aforementioned axe (no blood), storybook, Red's basket, grandma's bed, etc. There is ample white space, allowing readers to focus on the words. Excellent use is made of bold type and capital letters for emphasis. Placement of text and illustrations varies from page to page, which helps to keep the story moving along. And make sure children don't miss the great comments about the endpapers on, where else, the endpapers. Great fun.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH