Customer Reviews

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I thought that this was a creepy looking book when I bought it. But since I had it, I decided to let my kiddos look at it and see if they liked it. They Did!!

My three year old, who wants to read, had no problem 'reading' this story and finding out all sorts of interesting aspects to the pictures as he read the book.

My son has bullied his little sister into helping him act out this little book. He has 'read' it to me many times over. He has enjoyed this book and so has my daughter.

I rated it a four because, as I said, I found the pictures just a bit creepy when we first got the book. But it is well enjoyed by children, so I'd certainly buy it again.

Enjoy.

The illustrations in this book are wonderfully imaginative, detailed, and evocative. I enjoy the fact that there are no words which I think makes the sharing of the book with my daughter a more creative and interactive experience for the two of us. In other words, we tell the story together from night to night, and we are always discovering new elements. I delight at her discoveries from the illustrations, e.g. the green thumb on the produce man, the penguin in the shop window, the silly, satisfied grin on the strawberry snatcher as he/she swings down from a tree on a vine. There are seemingly endless possibilities for discovering and creating stories here.

The characters in the book reflect people of different races/cultures in the most subtle ways which I appreciate for my daughter because, in fact, it reflects the world we live in, and makes the book less mono-dimensional.

I have wondered if my daughter might find the story frightening, as the strawberry snatcher follows the grey lady from town and through the woods attempting to "snatch" her strawberries. If you pay close attention to the facial expressions on the characters faces, you get everything. The grey lady is contented at first with her bag of strawberries and rubs her tummy in anticipation of eating them. Then the suspense builds as she becomes aware she's being followed. She evades the snatcher, then is found, then evades again, then is found again. My child sees it as a game of hide and seek. The end is a happy resolution for both.

A 4 year old friend of my daughter gave this book to her on her second birthday. As I "read" the book to my daughter the first time, I thought that it was too scary for a 2 year old and worried how I would explain what the strawberry snatcher was doing or what was happening in the eerie-looking swamp. To my suprise, she only said "turn pages again" when we finished, and asked me to "read" the book 4 more times in a row. She still likes it, and now I do too.

This is perhaps the most unusual, beautiful, elegant, and enigmatic wordless children's book ever made. It it an allegory about life, death, persistence, wisdom, love and transformation, at least to my eyes. My children have loved it, been scared by it, and laughed with it. It is a book that joins the ordinary world and the archetypal.

This is the first wordless book I bought for my son, and I must say that I am struck by the beauty of the illustrations. They're almost too pretty for a pre-schooler . . . .
Without words, the illustrations tell an engaging and suspenseful story about a woman, her strawberries and a dark creature in hot pursuit.
Wordless books are nice to have in a household like mine where Mom and Dad speak different languages, because we can both read them to our child without resorting to translations on-the-fly. And, when he gets big enough, the child can read the book to himself or his siblings.
This book, though, is especially enjoyable. I am sure it will remain a favorite in our house.

One of my absolute favorite childhood books. Imaginative story with wonderfully detailed illustrations that inspired me to go to art school.

I have to admit when I saw this book I wasn't impressed but I "read" it to my preschoolers anyway. There are no words to the book just pictures. Well, My preschoolers LOVE it!! I have read it at storytime the past couple of years and it is the most requested book by every class!! They love telling the story themselves. For that reason I give this book 5 stars. After all the book was written for them.

A story for children told without words about an elderly lady dressed in grey who buys strawberrys and is followed by a being who attempts to steal the strawberrys from her. She walks into the woods and is able to elude her the"Snatcher." Most children will enjoy following the story and supplement the story with their own words. They will also enjoy seeing how color and camouflage works. The book was a 1981 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

This mysterious wordless book is a visual feast beginning with a visit to a fruit vendor. His baskets of cherries, plums, and strawberries entice the reader from the cover. An elderly gray haired woman in a gray dress beams as the vendor hands her a luscious basket filled with plump strawberries. She places it in her net bag and smiling contentedly leaves the vendor's shop. As she goes we see a mysterious figure peer around the corner. He has blue skin, long skinny limbs, fingers and toes and sports a wide-brimmed purple hat. As he follows the Grey Lady mushrooms sprout where his feet step. The Lady and the Snatcher move through a richly detailed street scene with elaborate window displays. Suddenly, a woman in an Asian goddess's flowing robes bearing a basket filled with eels skateboards into the Strawberry Snatcher. The Gray Lady escapes by catching a bus to her home in the swamp. Snatcher follows close behind on the skateboard and we see them play hide and seek among the trees. The Gray Lady skillfully blends into patches of gray in the landscape. Finally, Snatcher discovers a brambly hedge bearing lots of colorful ripe plump berries and he stops to feast. The Gray Lady then reaches home where everyone has a touch of Gray in hair or clothing or both. We witness a strawberry celebration among the Gray family while she hands a bowl of berries to a young boy who bears a remarkable resemblance to the Strawberry Snatcher. Could they be related? Intriguing plot and engaging illustration make this a delightful story to be recreated again and again within the viewer's imagination.

I have an eight-year-old son who hates books and reading--except for stuff he thinks will shock me, like gory "Goosebumps" paperbacks. When I first saw this book at the library, I thought it was just plain weird. The illustrations didn't even seem to follow any kind of spacial logic. But I have a habit of trying out all books that have won honors and awards, so I brought it home.

My bibliophobic son fell in love with it immediately. He laughed and laughed and wanted to "read it to me" dozens of times with sound effects and commentary added. He found things in it I had not spotted--such as, did you know that the Strawberry Snatcher leaves a mushroom trail? I bought this book for Alex's Christmas present and have noticed that it also has special appeal to my smaller "kinesthetic" and mechanical children who are compelled to get their mitts on something.

A unique treasure--buy it for your little squirmy bibliophobes!