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ANIMAL PARADE (The)
King-Smith, Dick
1992 14784 Publishers Weekly: British author King-Smith, whose popular novels star comical animal heroes, has put together an anthology of his own favorite pieces--selections that provide ``everything a story should." Using excerpts from such classics as The Wind in the Willows and Black Beauty , King-Smith adds to the fun with his own twists on five Aesop fables, a few of his amusing cautionary verses and passages from his books. The diversity here makes this an ideal compendium for introducing readers to animal tales; a list at the book's conclusion offers the stories' sources and suggestions for further reading. With their becoming textures, Wild's softly muted pencil and watercolor drawings strike just the right note for this playful assortment. Readers will relish marching along to this stellar zoological parade. Ages 6-up. (Oct.) School Library Journal Gr 3-6-- An eclectic mix of stories and poems about animals. King-Smith retells five of Aesop's fables and includes numerous poems and bits of stories of his own. To these he adds snippets from Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Potter's The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher , and Kipling's The Jungle Book . Novels for older readers, such as Williamson's Tarka the Otter, Sewell's Black Beauty, and London's White Fang are also excerpted. The snatches of stories are taken verbatim from unabridged versions; however, they are so brief that readers barely grasp the scenes, situations, and characters, much less the reasons they are memorable enough to include. For the most part, the poems are humorous, cautionary verses. A reading list is appended. Each selection has one or more realistic illustrations in muted colored-pencil and watercolor washes. They are attractive, but pale in comparison to the original artwork found in these classics. This anthology might serve as a springboard for discussion and further reading, HarperCollins Publishers 0-688-11375-3 / 9780688113759
Hardcover As New As New Book Jacket New York
Price:
21.07 USD
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