Michelle Robinson (1)

A knight errant sets out on a quest in this humorous picture-book send-up of the classic tales of chivalry, finding that the story is continually changing all around him. He starts out on a horse, but is soon striding toward destiny - "Once upon an olden day / A knight in armor rode away. / Then again... / he had no horse. / Did I say "rode"? / He strode of course." - eventually fighting a dragon (or is it a cat?) with his sandwich (I mean, sword!). Both combatants die on the battlefield... show more or do they?

I chuckled aloud on more than one occasion while reading Michelle Robinson's cleverly rhyming tale, with its stops and starts, corrections and retractions, and overall sense of fun. Fred Blunt's artwork in The Forgetful Knight reminded me a bit of the work of such illustrators as Quentin Blake and Tony Ross, and captures the madcap antics of the text wonderfully. I particularly liked his cat (of course), and his dragon. Recommended to anyone looking for fun new takes on the old quest-type tale, or for stories involving knights, dragons, and imaginative play. show less

Michelle Robinson and Fred Blunt, the British author/illustrator team behind that humorous picture-book, The Forgetful Knight, team up again in this rhyming tale of grannies and the aliens who kidnap them. Bent on world domination, the Martians determine that if they replace the grandmas of the world, they will be able to get their way. Little do they realize that Fred and Nell, left in their grandmother's care one evening, will immediately be able to spot the difference, and will hatch a show more plan to rout them...

Although not quite the equal of their earlier title, in my estimation, Grandmas from Mars is still an engaging book, one which pairs an entertaining tale with bright, appealing artwork. The silly humor here will undoubtedly appeal to young children, and the rhyming text will keep them involved. All in all, this is a fun read-aloud selection, one I would recommend to young children who like stories about aliens, about grandmas, or about children who save the day. show less

A little fairy named Tate is trained in the proper way to be a Tooth Fairy by her older sister May in this rhyming British picture-book from author Michelle Robinson and illustrator Briony May Smith. Taken on a whirlwind world tour, Tate must obtain the teeth of all manner of creatures, from swimming hippos to lazing seals. But the greatest challenge of all is a little girl named Melissa, who likes to capture fairies and kiss them...

Having enjoyed other picture-books from both Robinson—The show more Forgetful Knight, Grandmas from Mars—and Smith—Margaret's Unicorn—I expected to find Tooth Fairy in Training quite charming, especially as I have been eagerly anticipating the follow-up from this pair, Witch in Training. Unfortunately, although the story idea was fun, the rhyming text read well enough, and the artwork was delightful—my favorite scenes, visually speaking, were the interior shots of Tate and May's fairy home, inside a tree—something was missing for me with this one. I don't want to overstate the issue—it was still an entertaining little picture-book romp, one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for fairy stories in general, and Tooth Fairy stories in particular—but I just didn't make any kind of connection to it, in the same way that I did with some of Robinson and Smith's other books. Mileage varies, of course, and everyone else online seems to love this one, so I'd say give it a go, if you are in the market for this sort of tale. show less

Like many other librarians, I'm scrambling to find stories that translate well to a virtual environment and this fun new take on an old action rhyme is perfect for storytime - and all-ages virtual read-alouds!

The endpages feature the original rhyme, "Ten fat sausages, sizzling in a pan. One went POP and the other went BANG." When it gets down to six, the story begins... turn past the endpapers, with squares showing various kitchen utensils and ingredients, and meet the sausages! With cartoon show more faces, the links are sizzling away in the pan and one goes POP and the other goes... "Hang on a minute!" In brisk rhymes, each "bang" pair of the sausage hops off to try to end their story a little differently. Alas, one goes down the drain, another is crushed in a blender, a third is eaten by the cat, and so forth, until the last two sausages hatch a clever plan to escape and find their freedom... or do they?

The deliciously macabre humor, goofy expressions on the sausages' faces, and the final punch line make this one that older kids and adults will giggle over, while their younger children and siblings bounce along with the rhythm.

Verdict: A must-have addition to your storytime collection.

ISBN: 9781524793296; Published April 2020 by Penguin Workshop; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library show less