In this uproarious adaptation, a companion to Betsy Who Cried Wolf! Betsy, along with her flock of opinionated sheep, sets out to bring cupcakes to Grandma. Betsy also brings fellow shepherd Zimmo the wolf, ignoring her friends' warnings. But when Zimmo disappears, Betsy begins to lose faith in her friend and in her ability to lead the talkative, troublesome sheep. Nash and Levine's twist ending ensures a happy ending, and the sheep's speech bubble cacophony ("The moral is: Wolves are good for grandmas." "Some wolves are grandmas." "Some books never end") provides an entertaining backdrop to a surprisingly tense story. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
In this uproarious adaptation, Nash and Levine’s twist ending ensures a happy ending, and the sheep’s speech bubble cacophony provides an entertaining backdrop to a surprisingly tense story.” — Publishers Weekly
“Tongue-in-cheek funny, this is sure to find a place alongside Betsy’s earlier escapade.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Nash stages the shenanigans in an attractive country landscape, supporting Levine’s light tone with comical pen drawings of the round-faced, energetic Betsy. Good read-aloud fun.” — The Horn Book
“Levine’s well-paced, straightforward storytelling plays nicely against the broad comedy in Nash’s color-washed ink drawings. Full of action, zaniness, and a few metamoments in which characters crawl out of the story, this makes a good companion to David Wiesner’s similarly fractured THE THREE PIGS (2001).” — Booklist
“The wry humor of the herd, who crack jokes and banter in speech bubbles alongside the narrative, will appeal to children and lends comic relief to the story of a difficult journey.” — School Library Journal
Praise for Betsy Who Cried Wolf: “A must-have.” — Kirkus Reviews
“There’s a glow and a flow to the pictures that add shine to the story.” — ALA Booklist
Levine’s well-paced, straightforward storytelling plays nicely against the broad comedy in Nash’s color-washed ink drawings. Full of action, zaniness, and a few metamoments in which characters crawl out of the story, this makes a good companion to David Wiesner’s similarly fractured THE THREE PIGS (2001).
Nash stages the shenanigans in an attractive country landscape, supporting Levine’s light tone with comical pen drawings of the round-faced, energetic Betsy. Good read-aloud fun.
There’s a glow and a flow to the pictures that add shine to the story.
Levine’s well-paced, straightforward storytelling plays nicely against the broad comedy in Nash’s color-washed ink drawings. Full of action, zaniness, and a few metamoments in which characters crawl out of the story, this makes a good companion to David Wiesner’s similarly fractured THE THREE PIGS (2001).
Gr 2–4—Betsy, the trustworthy shepherd introduced in Betsy Who Cried Wolf (HarperCollins, 2002), and Zimmo, the wolf who reinvented himself after demonstrating his predilection for herding sheep instead of eating them, are together again. It is Betsy's birthday, and she is allowed to go to her grandmother's house by herself to deliver cupcakes. She decides to take the sheep, and Zimmo begs to come along. Betsy concedes, but her instincts warn her that wolves and grandmas don't mix. When Zimmo runs ahead, suspicions surge, and she lets her fears get the best of her. The journey becomes an uphill climb in the mud for Betsy with her herd slipping and sliding, but ends in a sweet surprise. Nash's illustrations, steeped in comic tradition but heavily crosshatched, exhibit realism reminiscent of David Macaulay's work. The sheep sport backpacks and model an assortment of fashion accessories—hats, boots, even guitars. The wry humor of the herd, who crack jokes and banter in speech bubbles alongside the narrative, will appeal to children and lends comic relief to the story of a difficult journey. Sheep act like birds (and people), wolves act like people (and grandmas), and there's even a joke that Betsy's birthday wish is to become a sheep someday, implying a free-to-be-you-an-me vision of identity and parodying the heavily analyzed wolf-dressed-as-grandmother motif of the original tale.—Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City
Betsy's second adventure finds her charged with taking some goodies to Grandma. The sheep she can bring along, but what about Zimmo the wolf, her fellow shepherd? Wolves have a bad reputation when it comes to grandmas. Zimmo's pleading works, and Betsy ignores the warnings that follow their entourage through town...but could it be the naysayers were right? When Zimmo dashes off ahead of the flock, Betsy picks up the pace so as to save Grandma, but her path is strewn with obstacles—a lost lamb, a rainstorm, a muddy slope. Will she be able to save Grandma in time, or is Grandma really not in any danger? Along the way, Levine's sassy flock of wisecracking sheep keep up the comments, their crazy un-sheeplike antics duly recorded in the artwork. Nash's palette is more subdued and makes greater use of inked details than in Betsy Who Cried Wolf! (2003), but he still masterfully portrays the personalities of each sheep. Tongue-in-cheek funny, this is sure to find a place alongside Betsy's earlier escapade. (Picture book. 4-8)