Never tease a weasel

Jean Conder Soule

Book - 2007

Illustrations and rhyming text present animals in silly situations, such as a pig in a wig and a moose drinking juice, along with a reminder not to tease.

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jE/Soule
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Location Call Number   Status
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Subjects
Genres
Stories in rhyme
Picture books
Published
New York : Random House 2007.
Language
English
Main Author
Jean Conder Soule (-)
Other Authors
George Booth, 1926- (illustrator)
Edition
1st ed
Item Description
Originally published with different illustrations by Parents' Magazine Press, New York, in 1964.
Physical Description
unpaged : ill
ISBN
9780375934209
9780375834202
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Accompanying a text first published in 1964, this picture book has new artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Booth, who also illustrated Dr. Seuss' Wacky Wednesday (1974) and April Halprin Wayland's It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma! (1995). Tinted with colors, his ink drawings combine sophistication of line with a real zaniness of spirit. The rhyming verses detail ridiculous ways of pleasing various animals, while the refrain recurs in slightly varying forms, including, But never tease a weasel, / Not even once or twice. / A weasel will not like it-- / And teasing / isn't / nice! Sidestepping the prissiness that could easily have accompanied such a message, Soule and Booth opt for droll humor instead. The result is a picture book that will be reread to the point that the eminently repeatable refrains could become part of a family's store of familiar quotations. Fun for reading aloud. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2007 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

First published in 1964 with illustrations by Denman Hampson, this gentle but catchy anti-teasing book gets a wry makeover from New Yorker cartoonist Booth (Wacky Wednesday), that brilliant chronicler of the cranky and quizzical. The artist takes Soule's nonsense rhymes to a whole new level of humor and--yes--emotional acuity. The book kicks off by noting there are many ways to be kind, especially if one possesses a skewed sense of ingenuity: "You can knit a kitten mittens/ And perhaps that cat would purr./ You could fit a fox with socks/ That exactly matched his fur." More animal recipients of loony benevolence appear: a pink, Phyllis Diller wig has been bestowed upon a pig; three frogs sport their gift of "sailing togs/ and a yachting cap or two." These random acts of goofy kindness alternate with sharply contrasting scenes of two young hooligans who taunt the wholly bewildered title weasel merely because they can. Finally the children take Soule's advice (and the book's refrain) to heart: "never tease a weasel,/ This is very good advice./ A weasel will not like it--/ And teasing/ isn't/ nice!" A snappy re-engineering of a classic. Ages 4-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 3-Soule's 1964 picture book has been reissued with new illustrations by a New Yorker cartoonist, and the result is a marvelous meld of text and art. The "be kind to animals" lesson is crafted in such slyly humorous terms that it's sure to win universal acceptance, even as it's met with giggles and grins. As a boy and girl tease a weasel in a variety of ways, Soule suggests other ways to makes friends with animals, such as making a goat a coat or giving a mule "a pool/And some jaunty swimming trunks." The animals look appropriately awkward and uncomfortable with these "kindnesses." As Soule observes: "You can knit a kitten mittens,/And perhaps that cat would purr," Booth draws a wide-eyed feline gazing warily from a safe distance at a pair of clunky, oversize mittens. In the end, the children and weasel snuggle on a couch, since: "It's more fun to please a weasel/and be friends with him instead." Soule's zany suggestions beg to be read aloud, and Booth's line drawings with bright daubs of color perfectly capture the lighthearted goings-on. Reminiscent of Judi Barrett's Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (S & S, 1970), this charmer's inspired silliness will win a wide audience.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

New illustrations add a visual zip to this bit of verbal tomfoolery that was missing from the 1964 original. Soule's verses ring changes on the benefits of providing various animals with clothing or other comforts--"You could give a mule a pool and some jaunty swimming trunks / or send a case of Spanish lace to a pair of lady skunks"--with the titular warning for a refrain. Wielding pen and brush with loose fluidity, Booth presents an array of gleeful children, along with wall-eyed animals responding, usually, but not always, positively, to their comically inappropriate new garb. Despite the nonviolent ending, plus a probably dated reference to a "riding habit," the bouncy text is as perfect as ever for reducing a young audience to hysterics, and Booth's scribbly art kicks it up an additional notch. Not every re-illustrated reissue is an improvement, but here's an exception. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.