Never Cry Woof! - Hardcover

Wattenberg, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439216753 ISBN 13: 9780439216753

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2005

Synopsis

Jane Wattenberg's sly revival of Aesop's fable proves that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

"Do you brag? Do you boast? Think you're hot, buttered toast? Have you ever told a whopper? A glib fib? A lie?"

Unruly Bix and the honorable Hunky-Dory have jobs tending sheep. A growl a day keeps the wolves away, but when a prankster cries "WOOF!", his fellow herders have a bone to pick with him. Will he get away with clean paws, or wind up in the doghouse?

Jane Wattenberg is at her wacky best in text filled with fetching puns, sublime rhyme, and rockin' rhythm--and a bold new version of her trademark photo-compositions.

About this title

About the Author:

Photography has been my main passion since I was seventeen. And I always loved children's books. I decided I'd like to put the two together and illustrate books with my photo-collage style. Color, patterns, words, and signs make me zing with pleasure. The power of language is breathtaking. My favorite books are the Thesaurus and Dictionary. What great discoveries we make about others and ourselves by listening to the words we all use.

Books that send me deep into my own thoughts, those that inspire, those that make me laugh, and the ones that never let me go become my favorites. When I am working on my own books, I especially love the times when I make myself laugh!

When I have time, I love to travel, roaming near and far, in local towns and in exotic, far-away lands.”

Jane Wattenberg is the best-selling author/artist of the accordion-style board books Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces and Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies. She has also illustrated many distinguished book jackets including Make Lemonade. In Spring 2000, Scholastic Press published Henny-Penny, her debut picture book. It is a hip-hopping, eye-popping adaptation of the classic story that caused the New York Times Book Review to squawk YOWZA!” Publishers Weekly raved in a starred review, this fine feathered picture book ROCKS!”

Her second title with Scholastic Press with Never Cry Woof! A Dog-U-Drama will be published in Spring 2005. Using the her trademark photo-compositions, Jane gives a sly retelling of an Aesop's fable that is filled with waggish puns, sublime rhyme, and rockin' rhythm.

Jane Wattenberg lives in San Francisco with her husband, three sons, chickens, and a dog.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4–Wattenberg retells Aesop's "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with a horde of job-hunting pups answering a newspaper ad for "fierce, snarling guard dogs." Leading the cast are reliable Hunky-Dory in his plain brown fedora and boastful Bix with his collection of goofy hats. While Hunky-Dory reads Shepherd's Golden Rules ("Rule #1: Never Cry Wooooof! unless you really need to"), Bix declares that "rules are for fools." He quickly tires of the boring job and lets loose a howl, and the story follows its familiar course until the dog finds himself nose-to-nose with a wolf. Wattenberg's photo collages seem lighter and brighter than those in Henny Penny (Scholastic, 2000), and, like the previous outing, there are plenty of sight gags (such as a "lambulance" and beady-eyed hedges). The overall effect of all the sight gags and puns, along with the garish colors, is overwhelmingly cluttered. The hip-hop banter moves along at a brisk clip, but the humor feels forced in lines like: "Mopey and blue, feeling like glue, BIX called to his flock,/ 'Hey fluffballs! Ewe-ram-a-lamb-a-ding-dongs!/ Wanna play HIDE-AND-PEEK?'" The tone of this remake is relentlessly sarcastic, and readers would be best advised to stick with more traditional versions of this tale.–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0439216753
• ISBN 13: 9780439216753
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Wattenberg Jane