That Is Not a Good Idea!

A wonderful bedtime story, I had the pleasure of reading this one aloud tonight. I gave the fox a slimy and terrible faux English accent, and I gave the goose my home-grown grits, eggs, and bacon Southern best. We were roaring at the end. This one I will definitely have to buy for my little Mo Willems fanatic.

Good Gracious Maud! It's good readin'!

This hilarious picture book, by Mo Willems (who is becoming one of my favorite children's book authors), puts a new spin on the old story of the sly fox tricking the fat goose into becoming his supper. In this story, the fox invites the goose to supper, escorting her through the deep dark woods. As she (seemingly) falls further and further into his trap, we hear a constant refrain from a chorus of chicks, who say, "That is not a good idea," which we presume is their warning to the naive goose. However, when the plot takes a delightful turn and the goose pushes the fox into his own soup pot, we realize the chicks have been warning the fox, all along.

If it's wrong to be a 25 year old, unmarried, childless adult, and to have a favorite children's author, than I don't want to be right. This is an excellent "read aloud" book. I personally like to read it with an 20's radio announcer's voice, while singing dramatic piano music before turning the page (a la silent films).

I mean, okay, there is something Willemsianly creepy about those little duckies who move from predator to prey, but enough with the "Ha ha ha, I'm gonna eat you!" You gonna feel the horror of boiling alive and the skin sloughing off your flesh as I pop your eyeball with a fork to see if you're done. I recognize that I am at a certain risk of becoming a vegan crank, but my son doesn't eat meat and stories that try to make it cute and put his conscience to rest about it are not something he needs, and sometimes clearly distress him.

This non-predictable book is very funny. It focuses on a fox and a duck, the fox meets the duck and immediately thinks to himself "dinner." However, the duck does not realize he is dinner, so when the fox asks to take a walk with the duck, the duck agrees. The story goes a long way and eventually end up at the fox's kitchen, boiling some hot water to make soup. Right when you think the duck is going to be the prey, the duck turns right around and becomes the predator. It was a nice plot twist and a funny one too. The illustrations are mostly black and white with very little color. The text is written in very large print and is in a dialogue bubble. My interpretations of the book were very simple, be smarter than your enemy. The duck was show more smarter than the fox, he had the fox lead him to a kitchen, with a free pot, free water, and free soup! This book can be used in the children's library for the students to read when at play time. show less

Loved the role reversal here! The goose goes with the wolf to try to turn her into a soup but he ends up in the pot instead. There's awesome picture references that hark back to old school films before there was sound and the chicks as warning device offers a fun repeating refrain.

Loved the role reversal here! The goose goes with the wolf to try to turn her into a soup but he ends up in the pot instead. There's awesome picture references that hark back to old school films before there was sound and the chicks as warning device offers a fun repeating refrain.