From: Rob Reid <reid>
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 08:22:59 -0600

I got a big kick out of the picture book The Web Files by Margie Palatini - perfect for a Family Storytime. The dialogue is straight out of Dragnet and James Cagney movies (the bad guy is The Dirty Rat). It is tremendous fun to read aloud: "About how many perfect purple almost-pickled peppers would you say were pilfered, pinched, and picked? A bushel?" "P'wak! P'awk" she squawked. "No-a peck! A peck, I tell you! A whole purple-pepper-pickin' peck!" At this point, Ducktective Web tells his sidekick to "Round up the usual suspects." The interrogation of Little Boy Blue is priceless: "I was under the haystack. Fast asleep! Honest. Ask anybody." "Sure. Sure. I've heard that bedtime story before. Got any witnesses?" "No. The sheep were in the meadow. Cows in the corn." Richard Egielski's illustration of three horses riding bikes complete with bike helmets is also a hoot.

Side note: My favorite adult book this year was Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Powerful writing.

Rob Reid Youth Services/Special Needs Coordinator Indianhead Federated Library System 1538 Truax Blvd, Eau Claire, WI 54703 715?9P82, ext. 14 reid at ifls.lib.wi.us
Received on Tue 04 Dec 2001 08:22:59 AM CST