Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The story of a boy who fell into a book . . . with a guest appearance from the Little Bad Wolf. From Children's Laureate Lauren Child.

Now if you were going to fall into a book, a book of fairy tales would probably not be your first choice. Because in every story there is always a wicked this, an evil that or a hungry somebody. It could only happen to Herb, child star of that thrilling tale , Beware of the Storybook Wolves.

Equally loved by children young and old, this brilliantly original picture book is perfect for sharing together. From the creator of the award-winning, bestselling Charlie and Lola series. Open it if you dare!

'A thrilling story to scare your socks off.' The Bookseller

' Wonderfully imaginative... Absorbing and with fantastical, zany pictures.' The Observer

' Very, very funny and definitely not to be missed!' Books for Keeps

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Child's (the Clarice Bean books) madcap m?lange of recast scenarios features a boy who falls asleep on a page of his fairytale book. He awakens to find himself in a strange bed, being chastised by a girl who shrieks, "How dare you be on this page? I am the star and I say you are not allowed in this story!" and identifies herself as Goldilocks. Scooting downstairs, Herb runs "slap, bang, wallop!" into three bears, one of whom offers him porridge. Again the girl yells: "In case you pea brains have forgotten, this story is called `Goldilocks and the three bears' not `the little show-off in pajamas has breakfast.' " Soon, more comic twists emerge: a double foldout reveals a palace ball scene in which the queen sports a mustache (courtesy of Herb's earlier embellishments to his fairytale book; "So you're the doodler who ruined my looks," the queen quips) and both the throne and Prince Charming are missing (Herb has snipped them out with scissors). Though the narrative bogs down a bit with explanations of the boy's negligent treatment of his book, the slapstick comedy runs high. Back in his bedroom, Herb tries to repair the damage, yet he exacts sweet revenge on grouchy Goldilocks, drawing a padlock on the three bears' door to leave her forever stranded outdoors. Set into Child's droll, mixed-media collage art, the snappy text careens playfully across the spreads. A pleasantly warped, kid-pleasing romp. Ages 4-7. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-When Herb falls asleep with his head on top of a dusty book of fairy tales, he finds himself stuck inside the volume with no quick way out. Chased by a raging Goldilocks, who is upset that he landed in her story, the boy journeys through a parade of fairy tales and finally gets caught in the middle of "Cinderella." All of his past mishandling of the book comes back to haunt him-Cinderella's kitchen is sticky with cookie crumbs, the Queen does not appreciate the mustache Herb has drawn on her face, and Prince Charming has been missing since he was cut out of the book and used as a birthday-card decoration. Child's wildly expressive collages include boldly patterned backgrounds, cartoon characters, and photographs in unexpected places. The text (and font) grows and shrinks and winds jaggedly through the story, and turns upside down on several pages. This fast-paced creative tale has some really funny moments. However, children may find it a bit frenetic. While Child's "Clarice Bean" titles (Candlewick) are grounded by that strong, familiar central character, here the disparate elements of the story sometimes feel as if they are literally flying off the edges of the pages.-Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

K-Gr. 3. Here's a book with a message that librarians can get behind. It's about fairy-tale characters who berate their storybook's owner for having defaced its pages. The game is up when Herb, the same googly-eyed boy from Child's Beware of the Storybook Wolves (2003), dozes off while reading and tumbles right into the story. As he meets its disgruntled characters, their doodled moustaches and other incongruities jog his memory of a time, long, long ago, when he had treated this book not so kindly. Guilty as charged, Herb pulls some stunts worthy of Harold and his purple crayon, then sets things to rights. Crazily collaged artwork, freewheeling typefaces, and a pull-out spread of Cinderella's ball (minus Cinderella and Prince Charming--guess who's to blame?) contribute to the sense of reigning mayhem. Children old enough to grasp the play on books as both physical objects and repositories of story will enjoy this; perhaps they'll even be less apt to give their own books (or borrowed ones) the personal treatment. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2004 Booklist

Horn Book Review

After Herb nods off while reading fairy tales, he finds that he has literally fallen into the stories and must tangle with the likes of snippy Goldilocks and Cinderella's nasty stepmother. The concept is grand, but the overly playful typeface, which slants, curls, and even appears upside down, makes it impossible to appreciate the lively mixed-media illustrations. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A lad pays the price for misdeeds past when he falls into a mistreated story book. Child explores this salutary premise in big, scribbly collages made of clipped photos and wallpaper applied over a double gatefold of a formal ball and other fairy-tale scenes. Falling asleep over his reading matter, Herb finds himself an interloper in "The Three Bears," "Hansel and Gretel," and other classics. He gets a very hostile reception--no surprise, as he horns in on Goldilocks's big scene, and sees what's happened since he clipped out Prince Charming to make a card for his mother, drew a mustache on the prince's mother, and glued pictures of telephones onto every tale (look for them). Worse yet, thanks to careless reinsertion of some loose pages, Cinderella's family--and the dialogue balloons in which they express their extreme displeasure--are upside down. Happily, once Herb makes his escape up a tottering pile of text, he does his best to mend matters--for all but the irascible Goldilocks, that is. Big good book, indeed. (Picture book. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.