MIXED UP FAIRY TALES

A four part, split page format turns a dozen or so familiar folktales into thousands, as children can mix or match the parts at will to make silly, sometimes loaded versions: “Ali Baba . . . put on a bright red cape . . . and dreamt about marrying . . . the Marquis of Carabas.” “Jack . . . cried ‘Open sesame! . . . And hid away among the reeds before turning into . . . a bowl of soup.” The texts are big enough to be visible from across a room, and Sharratt adds plenty of color with bright cartoon versions of instantly recognizable characters or types. The spiral binding (within a standard cover) will likely wear out, but each new flip will elicit gales of laughter from young (and perhaps not so young) audiences. A hoot. (Picture book/folktales. 5-8)