THE GREAT NURSERY RHYME DISASTER

Little Miss Muffet turns a series of familiar nursery rhymes on their heads when, sick of that scary spider, she escapes into the pages of the book to find a new rhyme. But the Grand Old Duke of York marches too much, getting water with Jack and Jill gives her a headache and she gets all wet sharing a page with Johnny Flynn and Tommy Stout. While Miss Muffet rather enjoys running with the spoon, the dish feels somewhat put out and raises a fuss, which spills over onto the other pages. In the ensuing chaos, Miss Muffet tiptoes back to her familiar rhyme. Williamson’s signature style uses combinations of basic shapes to create her characters. Bold colors and patterns and a typeface that echoes the action complete the effect, creating a visually busy tableau in which the nursery-rhyme characters run amok. Reminiscent of the craziness of Jane Breskin Zalben’s Hey, Mama Goose, illustrated by Emilie Chollat (2004), and Alison Jackson’s If the Shoe Fits, illustrated by Karla Firehammer (2001), this fits the genre with zany precision. (Picture book. 3-7)