Sassy Gracie - Hardcover

A read-aloud with some pretty convincing sound effects. Sassy Gracie is the cook's helper, and she loves to prance about in her red shoes, which makes the cook crazy, because of their ``Clunkety-Clunk!'' When the cook's away, the master of the house (his walking stick goes ``Bumpety-Bump!'') tells her to roast two chickens for an important guest. While the chickens are roasting, Gracie kicks up her heels, and when they are golden and gorgeous, she decides to have just a taste, to see if they are done. Another taste and another lead to the inevitable. Gracie outwits both guest and master on the subject of roast chickens in a way perhaps not to be emulated, and falls upon her attic bed exhausted from food and dance. Gracie's smile is the same bold black of the outline that delineates figures and objects; the master is resplendent in his leaf-green damask smoking jacket, and the kitchen is strewn with cats and stray produce. Strong colors, varied perspectives, and Gracie's red shoes and wiry pigtails hold readers; although the story is oddly paced, and slightly mean-spirited, few preschoolers will be able to resist participating on the ``Bumpety-Bumps.'' (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Sassy Gracie helps Cook in the kitchen, but what she likes most is to stomp on the tiles in her "big red shoes with big red heels that she loved to pieces." On one of Cook's days off, when "the master of the big house" asks Sassy Gracie to prepare two chickens for a guest, Sassy roasts the chickens, but when she takes a nibble to make sure they're cooked through, she ends up devouring both birds and must concoct an excuse for her boss. On most every page, Sage (Where the Great Bear Watches) repeats the "clunkety-clunk!" of his heroine's footfalls. At times, the art and layout are just as clunky. Pratt lets Sassy's black locks snake out in two gravity-defying pigtails, and he gives her huge feet, the better to show off her clownish shoes. Rubbery limbs and puppetlike contortions give Sassy the girlish air of Olive Oyl. Chaotic perspectives and highly saturated colors induce a feeling of frenzy, while the type jarringly varies its format to stress the differences between narrative, dialogue and sound effect. The text would be fun as a read-aloud; unfortunately, the clamorous presentation here sours a one-on-one encounter. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.