Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes
By Margie Palatini, Illustrated by Barry Moser
Simon & Schuster Children, 2009
Pages: 32
Suggested Ages: 4-8
ISBN-13: 0689802463
Unable to reach the tantalizing bunch of purple grapes high in a tree, Fox, who considers himself sly, clever, and smart, makes a plan to get them. "Hop. Skip. Jump. Flying leap. And . . . No grapes." Which is when he turns to Bear for help. Bear eyes Fox's written plan and tries to make a suggestion, but Fox cuts him of with, "Ta-ta-ta-a-ta. Bear, Bear, Bear, my dear dim buddy. Your job is brawn. Not brain. You leave the thinking to me." Fox climbs atop Bear's head, but he's still not high enough, which is why he enlists the help, in quick succession, of Beaver, Porcupine, and Possum, stacking the animals into a not-quite-high-enough tower. The dialogue is crackling and Moser's realistic watercolors are comical in Palatini's latest reworking of the well-known fable.
THEMES: ANIMALS. CREATIVE DRAMA. FOLKLORE.
Unable to reach the tantalizing bunch of purple grapes high in a tree, Fox, who considers himself sly, clever, and smart, makes a plan to get them. "Hop. Skip. Jump. Flying leap. And . . . No grapes." Which is when he turns to Bear for help. Bear eyes Fox's written plan and tries to make a suggestion, but Fox cuts him of with, "Ta-ta-ta-a-ta. Bear, Bear, Bear, my dear dim buddy. Your job is brawn. Not brain. You leave the thinking to me." Fox climbs atop Bear's head, but he's still not high enough, which is why he enlists the help, in quick succession, of Beaver, Porcupine, and Possum, stacking the animals into a not-quite-high-enough tower. The dialogue is crackling and Moser's realistic watercolors are comical in Palatini's latest reworking of the well-known fable.
If you can rustle up five kids, bring out some grapes to share and have them act out the whole story. Read a simple version of Aesop's "The Fox and the Grapes" to demonstrate how the author fleshed out and added characters, humor, and drama to the original bare bones fable. Then examine Jerry Pinkney's The Lion & the Mouse to see how he illustrated that tale with no words at all. Talk about the phrase "sour grapes" and ask children what it means. It you've never been to Margie's website, www.margiepalatini.com, it's mighty fun. Don't forget to listen to her interview right here at ReadKiddoRead.
Finally, for another ripsnorting stacking story, note how a bear attempts to balance a batch animals in an unsuccessful tower in Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black.
THEMES: ANIMALS. CREATIVE DRAMA. FOLKLORE.
- Palatini and Moser have taken a spare Aesop fable and expanded it into a riotous treat for eyes and ears while still keeping the essence of the original.
- School Library Journal
