The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher

Summary: The snatcher tries to get the grey lady's strawberries, as she escapes in magical ways. He learns his lesson in the end.

Personal Reaction: Maybe my favorite wordless picture book of all time. Molly Bang is an artistic genius, and conveys whimsy, magic, haunting menace, happiness, and ethereal wonder. Motion and sense of place are perfect. An absolutely great read for younger kids.

A lady dressed all in gray -- or rather, dressed in the color of the background of the illustrations -- merrily purchases some strawberries and goes on her way... only to be followed by the villainous strawberry snatcher, dressed in lime green and blue, leaving behind a snail-trail of mushrooms with every footstep. Without a singular setting, the "grey lady" and the strawberry snatcher go past what looked to me like row houses in South Philly, glossy tile alleyways, a mystical roundabout in a forest, and beyond! The strawberry snatcher is pictured on a skateboard, giving the otherwise fairy-tale like book a time-bending quality. This wordless read is an epic adventure!

A magical, captivating book without any words at all that is filled with magical pursuit and escape, all for the love of berries. Watch the grey lady disappear into the mist as the strawberry snatcher persists in his pursuit to satisfy his berry craving. Exotically illustrated, featuring what appear to be an indigenous or island culture. It would be fun to make up the story, providing countless oral language development and writing activities. It might also be a fun social studies lesson with older kids to look for culture clues, as I was doing, noticing the horseshoe crab on the wall and the man playing banjo, or to discuss the 'grey areas' of character. One of my absolute favorite books to read with children.

This wordless picture books lures the reader in by telling the story of an old lady who purchases strawberries from the store, only to be followed and chased by the strawberry snatcher. This is an amazing wordless picture book. The illustrations are clear and concise and easy for the reader to follow. The complexity of the pictures such as when the strawberry snatcher reaches for the gray lady in the forest he comes to the realization that he may not be able to find her because she is using her surroundings to blend in to the gray forest around her. She uses her camouflage to escape and lead the snatcher to a field of berries free for picking.
The main idea of the book is to show that snatching and stealing are never right and if one show more only asks then others may be willing to share or show them how to find things on their own just as the gray lady leads the snatcher to the patch of berries at the end of the book. show less

A book illustrated with no text. Indeed, the illustrations outline and lead the story of an older lady who purchases strawberries for her family. Immediately, she is followed/stalked by a weird blue golum like figure who appears menacing in his intent.

Throughout the book there are close calls when he almost succeeds, yet each time, she outsmarts him.

In the end, she keeps the berries and takes them home to her family. The blue nasty creature finds a bush of berries and munches to heart's content.

This can be a frightening book for little children. Though, it doesn't hurt for them to learn that not everyone in life is lovely and that there are instances when nasty people steal and rob with no thought of civility.

I liked the illustrations show more and the creativity. show less

Top 100 pick because:

Molly Bang is pretty genius with illustrations and her intentional decisions with color, size and shape; the placement of every little thing on every page. Not that others don't do this, but her explanation behind her choices are fascinating. This book is a prime example of her creativity. It's such a strange idea and portrayal, yet it works magically. My only complaint is why does there have to be a woman on a skateboard with a basket full of snakes?
This is my last pick for my top 100. I kept coming back to it and this told me it needed to be on here.

A children’s book that is in print for 33 years is a rare thing. This book is entirely original, quirky and has stood the test of thousands of critics. My favorite quote about this book is from the first editor that Molly Bang proposed it to: “You have an old woman running around in the woods, and children don't relate to an old woman as a protagonist. The characters are very peculiar-looking. And to top it off, this has no words, so nobody will know what to do with it.” It represents everything that I love about wordless picture books. It’s wierd and wonderful.