Four Fur Feet [Hardcover]

Margaret Wise Brown (Author), Woodleigh Hubbard Marx (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

A furry little creature wanders the world, taking in all the fascinating sights and sounds. Round and round he goes, as a rhythmic text describes what he sees and hears along the way. Orginally published in 1961, this infectious picture book has been newly illustrated with bright, graphic art.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Playing Clement Hurd to the late, great Brown is a tall order for any illustrator, even when the volume is no Goodnight, Moon. Brown serves up contagious rhyme with an alliterative sing-song refrain: "Oh he walked around the world on his four fur feet,/ his four fur feet,/ his four fur feet./ And he walked around the world on his four fur feet/ and never made a sound-O." Faced with the challenge of visualizing the perambulating fur-footed creature, Hubbard (Hip Cat) responds with a roughly drawn, vaguely schnauzer-like animal; this banana-yellow beast boasts indeterminate red swirls that indicate wavy hair, and it appears flat as a paper cutout. The artist's opaque gouaches, solidly rendered in a childlike hand and in the zippiest of palettes, have the simplicity of Brown's tongue-twisters, but not their liveliness. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS?A rousing, rhythmic chant about an appealing animal. "Oh, he walked around the world on his four fur feet,/his four fur feet,/his four fur feet....and never made a sound-O." Sunny gouache illustrations in paintbox colors show his travels as he pads along a river, past a railroad, out into the country where he eventually dreams peacefully about the round world. It's a simple, repetitive tale with the sort of serious whimsy Brown wrote so well. Unlike Remy Charlip's illustrations for the 1961 edition, Hubbard's new artwork depicts the creature itself?and a magnificent beast it is, too?with bright squiggles of red adorning its yellow coat and luxurious curly black whiskers. A fine addition to picture-book collections.?Caroline Parr, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (September 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078680002X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786800025
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,629,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well. Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading. She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them. She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper. Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My three year old loves it and reads it again & again......., September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Four Fur Feet (Hardcover)

A wonderful rhyming and repeating text that encourages preschoolers to join in making sounds, and counting.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Infectious!, April 29, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Four Fur Feet (Paperback)

This book provides a fantastic way to engage a child in reading out loud. The rhymes stick with kids---and don't be suprised if they stick with you as well! "Four Fur Feet, Four Fur Feet!" I bought a copy for my niece and nephews, and now I want my own!