Outside Inn (Orchard Paperbacks) - Softcover

Lyon, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0531070867 ISBN 13: 9780531070864

Publisher: Scholastic, 1997

Synopsis

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

About this title

From School Library Journal

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.

From Publishers Weekly

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0531070867
• ISBN 13: 9780531070864
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Rosenberry Vera
• Number of pages: 32