FICTION

I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word

by Laurie Lazzaro KNOWLTON
illus. by Herb Leonhard. 32p. Pelican. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-589-80892-8.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2—Drawing on a cumulative rhyme similar to "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed…," Knowlton uses a stereotypical, bespectacled, bun-sporting librarian to tell a spin-off of the tale. Miss Devine devours assorted library items such as a book, a bookcart, a table, and a shelf, with the students each time exclaiming, "How absurd" before the conclusion. Their large, grotesque childlike faces are bug-eyed with astonishment at their librarian's antics. Their skin tones are garishly sunburned orange/red and a bizarre yellowish-brown to add to the outlandish tone. At the finale, the librarian's chewed word that everyone wants to know is anticlimactic. Nothing much new here that will hold interest past the initial reading.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
In a variation on "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," a librarian ingests a succession of library items, from an unnamed word to a bookshelf. The rhyme is fine but the ending predictable (the word she swallowed? Read). The illustrations are garish, and the cover features a librarian--finger to her lips--in a bun, wire-rimmed glasses, and a shirtwaist.
Reviewed by Blair Christolon , Aug 01, 2012

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