The Baby's Story Book (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

Kay Chorao lives in New York City.
Kay Chorao lives in New York City.

PreSchool-Grade 2 Chorao continues her series of books appropriate for young children with this collection of 15 nursery tales. Classics such as "The Little Red Hen" and "The Gingerbread Boy" are here as well as some fables and an old alphabet verse. The longer stories are shortened a bit to make them easy for young children to listen to and in some cases are not as violent as the original. In "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" the speech of the third goat is shortened to "I have two spears to stick you with!" However, "The Three Little Pigs" are eaten by the wolf as are "Little Red Riding Hood" and her grandmother. The illustrations are delightful pastel paintings in brighter colors than those used in The Baby's Bedtime Book (Dutton, 1984). The animals are especially endearing. "The Princess and the Pea" is illustrated with cats instead of people, and the foxes enjoying their dinner in "Henny-Penny" are delightfully pleased with their meal. The pictures are arranged in varied ways to go with the stories, sometimes full page and sometimes several panels on a page. This book should certainly fill a need for new lap books for parents who wish to read traditional tales to children. The high quality and gentleness of the illustrations will make it a favorite. Margaret C. Howell, Capitol Hill Day School Library, Washington, D.C.
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