From Publishers Weekly
Adding comical original verse and ebullient full-page art, Kellogg creatively embellishes the titular traditional tall-tale tune to wreak playful havoc with a number of historical happenings. The author first introduces a gleeful, coon-cap-wearing young narrator, who declares that he was born about 10,000 years ago "and there's nothing in the world that I don't know." The clever lyrics go on to place him and four additional kids smack-dab in the middle of a host of momentous events, including that fateful bite from an apple ("I saw Adam and Eve driven from the door.../ And I swear that I'm the one who ate the core"); the construction of the pyramids ("And for Pharaoh's little kiddies/ I built all the pyramiddies"); and the settlement of the American West ("Pecos Bill and I drove cattle/ Clear from Texas to Seattle"). Giving this whirlwind romp a futuristic spin, Kellogg ends with one of his young characters stocking a Saturn-bound rocket with enough plates of food to last until her return?when school gets out in June. Dominated by his trademark fluorescent tones, Kellogg's illustrations feature funny details and pleasingly silly anachronisms: the Sphinx sports a striped tie and a matching birthday hat, and Pecos Bill's cattle clamber up Seattle's Space Needle. A concluding invitation to kids to devise their own rhyming tale that "stretches" the truth makes this bouncy read-aloud doubly fitting for classroom use. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?A tall tale based on a traditional folk song, related here as a story within a story. An assortment of endearing children spin their yarns, weaving outrageous tales of what they have witnessed. Everything from seeing Pharaoh's daughter fish Moses out of the water and Columbus's discovery of the New World, to driving cattle with Pecos Bill and playing hopscotch on the moon are a part of these kids' whoppers. As the main events are pictured in Kellogg's typical cartoon style, the young raconteurs appear below, entertaining one another with their miraculous feats. This title will be an unusual lead-in to induce interest in historical events and their time frames. Humor abounds in the vivid illustrations and the text; one such example is a sign displayed on one of Columbus's ships that "This voyage is made possible by our royal sponsors, Ferd and Iz." Legends such as Paul Bunyan and Babe, Johnny Appleseed, and Pecos Bill can also be introduced. The book ends on a good note with the catchy score for the book's title song. Sure to inspire a chuckle or two from young and old alike.?Kathy Mitchell, Gadsden Co. Public Library, Quincy, FL
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
