A: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book?
B: Child, Lauren
D: Hyperion Books For Children, 2003
E: Modern High fantasy, Picture Book
F: K-3
G: This book starts by telling about how much Herb loves to read. Even though he is not the best reader, he loves to read and look at the pictures in scary stories. One night when he has a friend over, he cannot fall asleep, so he finds a book to read. This book turns out not to be his favorite, it is a fairy tale. After he falls asleep, he is startled awake and is in the book! He is right in the middle of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. He meets the Bears on his way out and passes Hansel and Gretel, Repunsul, and Puss in Boots on his way to find a way out. Herb then finds himself in front of a large door. He went in to find a ball without a prince. Herb finds himself in trouble when the King and Queen blame him for all of their problems (which he did cause!) He escapes to find himself with the ugly stepsisters and then with Cinderella. She helps Herb out by calling her fairy godmother. As she is trying to help, Goldilocks runs in and screams and this jolts Herb out of the book. The book ends as Herb and his friend Ezzie fix everything that Herb had previously done to deface the book.
H: I think this book is very unique. I really love the used of visual art and word art to covey the message of the book. Lauren Child changes text size and style to emphasize different parts of the story and make different things stand out. I was also drown in by the unusual conflicts of this story. It is not a normal children’s story. It breaks all of the rules, and that makes it even more entertaining.
I: This would be a great book to read aloud in kindergarten or first grade. This is another book that might defy convention a bit too much for children to read when they are just learning to read. I do, however, think that you could use this story to introduce other stories or to lead into a lesson about respect. Herb did not respect his book, and that made the characters in the book mad. This book could also be used in an art lesson and you could have your students create a modern picture of a story they know.