Sheepish Riddles (Easy-to-Read, Dial)

Provides silly jokes, riddles, and puns that focus on everyone's favorite woolly friends and include such side-ticklers as "What is a sheep's favorite tale? Ali Baaa Baaa and the 40 thieves!"

PreSchool-Grade 4?A fine collection of easy-to-read riddles that feature puns, whimsical wordplay, and broad punch lines. "Where do sheep go to get a haircut? To the baa-baa shop!" All of the entries are well served by Alley's ink and watercolor artwork. His exaggerated cartoons and comic invention support the tone of vaudevillian humor. Whether the jokes elicit laughs or groans, this book begs to be shared aloud. Perfectly suited to primary-grade children, it may also appeal to older reluctant readers.?Marilyn Taniguchi, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This Easy-to-Read offering from Hall and Eisenberg (Snakey Riddles, 1990, etc.) has its ups and downs, but for the most part its cleverness shines through. Much of the material will have young readers giggling along: A ``baa humbug'' is the result of crossing a sheep with a bee; and ``Steal wool'' comes of crossing sheep and a thief. But there are also groaners, including riddles about sheep who count people when they can't sleep, and Cinderella Sheep's lost ``grass'' slipper may not elicit much response from children old enough to read this on their own. Some of the funniest lines aren't riddles at all, but throwaway comments contained in the illustrations (when they go to the movies, don't all sheep order ``baaattered'' popcorn?). Alley's lush artwork has real comic sense and keeps readers cackling even when the riddles go astray. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 1^-3. Riddles are always fun, and this book in particular will make kids want to brush up on their reading skills so that they can get in on the joke. Sheep are the subject, and the authors milk it for wild and woolly fun. What movie are sheep lining up to see? "Baaaatman!" Where do sheep go to get a haircut? "To the baa-baa shop!" If kids have trouble figuring out the answers, the excellent color illustrations provide clues. Ilene Cooper