Old Cricket - Softcover

Wheeler, Lisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416918558 ISBN 13: 9781416918554

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

Old Cricket's got a lot of excuses as to why he can't fix the roof, pick the berries, or harvest the corn, but when hungry Old Crow approaches, Old Cricket is fearful that his clever excuses may not work. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Old Cricket didn't get to be a ripe old age "by being a dumb bug." No, sir. When his wife asks him to ready their roof for the winter, he fakes a knee injury to weasel out of it. When she sends him off to Doc Hopper, he hobbles out of the house "with a creak-creak-creak in case his missus was watching." On his way, he meets up with his cousin Katydid, who needs help with some berry-picking. He fakes yet another ailment--a crick in his neck--and wobbles off "with a creak-creak-creak, and a crick-crick-crick, in case Katydid was watching." All (meaning Old Cricket's nap) would have gone according to plan, surely, if the bug didn't encounter Old Crow, a bird who didn't get to be a ripe old age "by being a birdbrain." Old Crow wants to eat Old Cricket, and by the time our leggy anti-hero escapes the crow's clutches, the conniving cricket has developed some very real ailments. The team behind the wonderful Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea succeeds again in creating a delightfully clever read-aloud with plenty of rhythm, repetition, and winning wordplay. Ponder Goembel's skillful, larger-than-life illustrations (my, what hairy legs the crickets have!) suit the good-natured fable to a T. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

Lisa Wheeler has written many books for children, including The Pet Project, illustrated by Zachariah OHora; Spinster Goose, illustrated by Sophie Blackall; and People Don’t Bite People and People Share with People, both illustrated by Molly Idle. She lives with her family in Addison, Michigan. Visit her online at LisaWheelerBooks.com.

Ponder Goembel has illustrated eight books, including two others by Lisa Wheeler, Old Cricket, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and Sailor Moo; A Basket Full of White Eggs, by Brian Swann; and The Night Iguana Left Home, by Megan McDonald. She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where the 2005 floods threatened to wash away the nearly finished paintings for this book. Her Web site is www.pondergoembel.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1416918558
• ISBN 13: 9781416918554
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Goembel Ponder