A Talking What?!

photo by d4rmy

As she walked along, there was a cowpat lying in the road, and when the old woman stepped over it, the cowpat said, "Old woman, where are you going?"

O my great googley-moogley! Run! Run fast and far Old Woman....that "cowpat" just asked you a question!!

A few weeks ago, we were reading about ancient India in history. I read several books and reviewed them, but for some reason, this book about an Old Woman trying to get help from the Raja, completely got past me! So here's a quick review of The Old Woman and the Rice Thief retold by Betsy Bang and illustrated by Molly Garrett Bang.

This book is a retelling of an old Bengali folktale. It is incredibly fun to read aloud because of all the different characters...lots of voices to add when you are reading! You'll need to pull out your voices for an old woman, a scorpion-fish, a wood-apple, a cowpat, a razor and an alligator. I'll have to admit the cowpat voice was the most fun for me! lol!! There's also enough repetition with the words that you'll find the kiddos getting involved with the story too.

Honestly, the illustrations did nothing for me or my kids. I did, however appreciate the illustrator including the cowpat drawing on the page where the cowpat was talking. She placed it in the corner of the page...really, it should have been front and center...I mean come on, it was a talking cowpat! Doesn't it need more than a corner spot?? How many talking cowpats do YOU know? Cowpat needs more space...