LS 5623 Advanced Literature for Young Adults

Cousins, Lucy. 2009. YUMMY: EIGHT FAVORITE FAIRY TALES. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763644741


Review:


Yummy is a retelling of eight fairy tales: "Little Red Riding Hood", "Three Billy Goats Gruff", "The Enormous Turnip", "Henny Penny", "Goldilocks", "The Little Red Hen", "The Three Little Pigs", and "The Musicians of Bremen".

While the retellings in this book are the stories we've all grown up with and expect to read, it is the art in this book that steals the show. Each drawing feels incredibly solid and the bright colors always contrast boldly with the page color. Some of the text of the story is hand drawn with picture, such as "Look, there she is!" on page 72 of "Goldilocks"; and this gives the picture a real feeling of action. Cousins is unafraid to illustrate even the violent scenes as she fearlessly draws the woodsman chopping off the head of the wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood", and the third little pig boiling the wolf over a fire in the "Three Little Pigs".


Awards/Reviews:
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books (WON AWARD) 2009
American Library Association Notable Books for Children (WON AWARD) 2010
Booklist *Star Reviewed*: "The writing is simple and direct, as befits these traditional tales."
School Library Journal: "There's no sugarcoating here."
Publisher's Weekly: "Cousins embraces all the primitive, enduring fears and desires that drive these stories, and then beckons readers to hop on a rollicking narrative roller coaster."
New York Times: "A jaunty humor shows itself in the blobby brushwork."

Connections:
*The hand written text with the illustrations lends itself to story time participation. Have the children say or imitate parts of the story.
Other retellings of popular fairy tales:
Wattenberg, Jane. Henny-Penny. 9780439078177
Carpenter, Stephen. The Three Billy Goats Gruff. 9780694010332
Hester, Denia Lewis. Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip. 9780807530276


Image credit: www.readingyear.blogspot.com