Old Mother Hubbard

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Old Mother Hubbard goes to the cupboard to get a yummy bone for her dear dog. But the cupboard is totally empty and Mother Hubbard feels guilty. She starts running back and forth to town to bring the dog gifts of questionable nature.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Cabrera's tempera illustrations always virtually bubble over with high spirits: her bold, saturated colors, broad brushstrokes and luscious, wet-paint surfaces bring to mind an especially creative and satisfyingly messy episode of finger painting. Although this familiar rhyme does not offer her the abundant possibilities of her Over in the Meadow, the title character comes across as a sweet, bright-eyed granny. The exuberant orange-and-white pooch companion comically rides a goat that resembles a bucking bronco and reads the news with ?lan. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

PreS-K-A delightfully illustrated rendition of the complete nursery rhyme. Cabrera's spreads are alive with movement achieved through painterly brush strokes and bright colors. Old Mother Hubbard and her dog are drawn as whimsical cartoon characters sure to charm young readers. This sweet grandmother with a white bouffant hairdo and wearing tennis shoes is a perfect match for her lovable brown-and-white terrierlike dog. Older children will relish the subtle humor depicted in several of the scenes. The art is all done in the same spirit as James Marshall's Old Mother Hubbard & Her Wonderful Dog (Farrar, 1991). The large pictures make the book an excellent choice for preschool storytimes.-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Ages 2-4. The old nursery rhyme reaches new heights of nonsense in Cabrera's bright, energetic double-page pictures. Yes, the cupboard is bare, so Mother Hubbard picks up her purple purse and goes shopping to try to make it up to the poor dog. Each time she returns home, she finds him up to all kinds of mischief. The big, close-up pictures, with thick black lines and blazing color combine slapstick and coziness, whether the dog is washing the cat or reading the news or wearing his new blue wig. As in Cabrera's Over in the Meadow (2000), the chanting rhymes and exuberant illustrations make a great read-aloud for young preschoolers. They will enjoy the switch each time from Mother Hubbard's silliness in the store to the dog's trouble at home, until, finally, the pooch discards all the stuff and gets his great big white bone, "Bow-Wow!" Dog-lovers will also have fun with the playful endpapers, where Cabrera has added hats, purses, wigs, wings, and haloes to pictures of 15 dogs she names and loves. --Hazel Rochman

Horn Book Review

This rendition based on the 1805 version by Sarah Catherine Martin finds Old Mother Hubbard out buying everything for her dog--a new hat, coat, wig, shoes, then finally, a bone--while he has some fun at home dancing a jig and riding a goat. CabreraÆs bold, colorful paintings amusingly illustrate the jaunty rhyme. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Cabrera (Dog's Day, 2000, etc.) illustrates this abbreviated adaptation of the nursery rhyme with broadly brushed, vibrantly colored scenes. Large, hand-lettered text complements illustrations that look like they were slathered on with finger-paints, in a perfect child-like style. Here is a hungry but irrepressible little terrier cavorting about while a cat looks on in alarm-or annoyance after being forcibly bathed-and Mother Hubbard shops for a coat, hat, wig, and shoes for him, even though "the cupboard is bare." Cabrera has made some adjustments: the dog doesn't die, even temporarily, and the ending has become a real crowd-pleaser. Instead of the original's now-stilted pleasantries, upon her return Mother Hubbard whips out a HUGE bone, crowing, "Your supper!"-prompting an ecstatic "Bow-Wow!" in response. Ex-toddlers will eat this up. (Picture book. 3-6)