Never Tease a Weasel (Picture Book) [Hardcover]

Jean Conder Soule (Author), George Booth (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2007 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Picture Book

A funny, finger-wagging rhyme with some very good advice: never tease a weasel, because teasing isn't nice! Rather, kids should do nice things for animals, such as bake a drake a cake, or give a mule a pool, and much more. Long out of print, this new edition of Never Tease a Weasel with art by the great New Yorker cartoonist George Booth will surely please a weasel, and everyone else who reads it!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3—Soule's 1964 picture book has been reissued with new illustrations by a New Yorker cartoonist, and the result is a marvelous meld of text and art. The "be kind to animals" lesson is crafted in such slyly humorous terms that it's sure to win universal acceptance, even as it's met with giggles and grins. As a boy and girl tease a weasel in a variety of ways, Soule suggests other ways to makes friends with animals, such as making a goat a coat or giving a mule "a pool/And some jaunty swimming trunks." The animals look appropriately awkward and uncomfortable with these "kindnesses." As Soule observes: "You can knit a kitten mittens,/And perhaps that cat would purr," Booth draws a wide-eyed feline gazing warily from a safe distance at a pair of clunky, oversize mittens. In the end, the children and weasel snuggle on a couch, since: "It's more fun to please a weasel/and be friends with him instead." Soule's zany suggestions beg to be read aloud, and Booth's line drawings with bright daubs of color perfectly capture the lighthearted goings-on. Reminiscent of Judi Barrett's Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (S & S, 1970), this charmer's inspired silliness will win a wide audience.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Accompanying a text first published in 1964, this picture book has new artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Booth, who also illustrated Dr. Seuss' Wacky Wednesday (1974) and April Halprin Wayland's It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma! (1995). Tinted with colors, his ink drawings combine sophistication of line with a real zaniness of spirit. The rhyming verses detail ridiculous ways of pleasing various animals, while the refrain recurs in slightly varying forms, including, "But never tease a weasel, / Not even once or twice. / A weasel will not like it-- / And teasing / isn't / nice!" Sidestepping the prissiness that could easily have accompanied such a message, Soule and Booth opt for droll humor instead. The result is a picture book that will be reread to the point that the eminently repeatable refrains could become part of a family's store of familiar quotations. Fun for reading aloud. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375834206
• ISBN-13: 978-0375834202
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars New illustrations destroyed this wonderful children's book, November 23, 2007

By 

Andrea L. Hyatt "Twin mom" (Keller, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Never Tease a Weasel (Picture Book) (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I loved the original as a child. I was sorely disappointed. The original, charming and careful illustrations have been replaced in this reprint with some terribly sloppy, cartoonish goop. Some of the animals in the illustrations are unrecognizable because the illustrations are, in my opinion, just a bunch of misshapen globs. Several times while I was reading this book, my 5-year old twins would ask me to explain to them what the picture was. Aside from just being downright ugly, the new, sloppy illustrations don't fit with the carefully chosen wording of the text. I'm going to track down a copy of the original edition and would urge anyone else to do the same.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely the best!, January 24, 2005

By 

c2 (Dublin, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Never Tease a Weasel (Hardcover)

Okay, someone needs to be listening out there, REPRINT THIS BOOK! This is such a classic and belongs in everyone's collection. The story basically is teaching children not to tease anyone, including a weasel. It's just so cute and my copy is about worn down to threads, literally. I would love to have an updated copy so I hope someone gets the idea and reprints it. My little one has to have it read to him over and over and over... "Never tease a weasel, there, I've said it thrice. A weasel will not like it and teasing isn't nice." Toddlers pick this up very quickly and it's just a great book to have.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful !, August 2, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never Tease a Weasel (Hardcover)

I teach three year olds at a Day care center and found this book among a pile of junk. I read it once and they got hooked! I have been reading it almost every day for almost 5 months and they read along with me! It has a fantastic sing-song rhythm to it and a moral as well. They especially find the page where the children are wearing a mask and trying to tease the weasel amusing. I always pause because I KNOW they are ALL going to tell me that the child has a mask on! I wish I could own my own copy of this! If you have it... dust it off and start readng it to any little ones around you!