Isn't it cute????? Illustrator David Parkins did a fabulous job, inside and out.
I sent a copy to my sister, who's name happens to be Jackie. Her comment is that there was a typo on the cover, as the book really should be "...House that Jackie Built."
She thought her comment was way funnier than I did.
The story is of course a riff on the old Mother Goose folk poem/song/chant, updated and twisted mercilessly into a macabre tale for only the stout-hearted.
Ok, maybe you don't have to be quite that stout-hearted. You just need a good sense of humor and plenty of those little candy corns to stick out of your mouth like fangs.
This book will be out in August, just in time for the annual back to school Halloween merchandising blitz. Order now, I say, to avoid the rush :)
If you are interested in folklore, you can find the original words to the tale here:
Interestingly enough, this isn't the first time I've knocked off the traditional rhyme. In Mother Goose Unplucked, there's a cartoony puzzle in which readers have to find all the things that are wrong with the very messed up house that Jack built. It was fun to put that book together, so you can expect more fractured fairy tall stuff from me in the future.
If you like fractured fairy tales, let me know your favorite!
Your cover is so cute! Congratulations! Sounds like a fun book.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, my favorite fractured fairy tale has to be Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman. It's so fun to read out loud.