There Was an Old Woman (Who Lived in a Shoe)/There Was a Crooked Man

PreS-K—Two classic rhymes are unevenly updated for today's audience. The crooked man uses crooked quarters instead of the original sixpence and the "old woman" sets off in a blazer with a briefcase to work in front of a boxy, dated computer. There is also a disconnect between the narration and the artwork; the "old woman" has a gravelly old voice but appears to be quite young. She appears to be frazzled and sips a red drink in a martini glass as she ponders what to do when the children get bigger and the shoe becomes too small. The rhymes strain with phrases like "need their own cot," and "save up some loot." The exaggerated enthusiasm of the children is crudely portrayed, making them appear maniacal, as are the bug-eyed crooked man and his pets. In a twist on that original rhyme, the cat is a magician who saws the mouse in half while the crooked man does funny dances for which people pay him money. The trite moral is conveyed by the lines, "Different can be awesome. I hope that you agree." In this case, it's not.