Animal Crackers Fly the Coop
This adaptation of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale “The Bremen Town Musicians” will provoke both groans and guffaws. Determined to be a comedian, Hen escapes from her farm and is soon joined in her journey by a dog, a cat, and a cow, all united in their dream to open a comedy club. On the road, they encounter a group of robbers hiding out in an old house, and faced with an audience, the animals instinctually launch into their routines. The bad guys, though, hear only frightening moos and barks instead of comedic shtick and flee, leaving behind their house—the perfect spot for the animals to realize their club aspirations. The nonstop comedic wordplay and puns are even more hilarious than those in O’Malley’s Gimme Cracked Corn & I Will Share (2007), with which this shares not only a funny bone but also a distinctive, attractive style of watercolor, ink, and PhotoShop art. With a high joke-per-page ratio, this is, as Hen would say, an “udderly” “egg-straordinary” “bawk.” Grades K-3. --Andrew Medlar