The Outside Inn - Hardcover

Lyon, George Ella

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531059367 ISBN 13: 9780531059364

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1991

Synopsis

Four imaginative children hold a banquet and serve creepy-crawly snacks in a mud puddle they call the Outside Inn

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-- This clumsy little poem enhanced by glorious illustrations will gather groans, gags, and giggles from young audiences. Lyon's text seems to have been inspired by the phrase "What's for snack? Slugs in a sack." She goes on to try to fill out the day with rhyme and slime. The rhyme in the words "breakfast" and "ketchup" is a bit elusive; "puddle ink" and "drink," or "mud-pie thinner" and "dinner" work better, but what are they really? Young listeners, however, won't mind these textual flaws as they respond enthusiastically to each course. The watercolor paintings are truly marvelous as they depict a multiethnic quartet of boys and girls spending a beautiful day by a pond expanding on mud-pie possibilities. After the full meal at The Outside Inn , the children return home, leaving behind tasty morsels for the wildlife that prefer such stuff. Rosenberry gives creepy crawlies an integrity that is tantalizing if not tasty. Even the endpapers celebrate the beauty of insects, slugs, and worms. While the book is fine as a rousing, reactive read-aloud, quiet time with each illustration is most rewarding. --Jody McCoy, Casady School, Oklahoma City
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This slight, mildly amusing offering from the creators of Together features a freestyle poem about the menu at a "make believe" restaurant by a small woodland pond, where meals " Squirm in your spoon / and wriggle at your chin." There are such delicacies as caterpillar feet, slugs in a sack, ants with ketchup and puddle ink, and all are prepared by an active gang of multi-ethnic children who finally gross out even themselves with a special dessert: worms and dirt. While the brief text may give children a giggle and a shiver or two, the watercolor paintings are rather dreary. Rosenberry's palette is a blend of washed-out grays and browns, and while her crawlie creatures are admirably creepy, her human subjects are stiff, disproportionate and even--in the only closeup of their faces--grotesque. The book may inspire youngsters to come up with their own squirmy snacks, but when it comes to multiple readings, it isn't likely to generate many requests for seconds. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

``What's for breakfast? Ants with ketchup. What's to drink? Puddle ink....'' An interracial quartet of kids is puckishly depicted no larger than the little creatures they joke about eating for their picnic; in a last double spread, the birds and beasts who really feast on worms and insects come out in full force. The deftly phrased text--capitalizing on one of childhood's perennial sources of glee--is paired with lighthearted but meticulous illustrations, each moth and slug shown in loving detail. Offbeat, but definitely worth a try. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0531059367
• ISBN 13: 9780531059364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Rosenberry Vera
• Number of pages: 32