Miss Muffet, or What Came After

It's possible to turn a four-line nursery rhyme into an elaborate period verse drama--Singer (Echo Echo) proves it, framing this elegant makeover as a theatrical production, complete with stage directions and musical numbers. Mrs. Muffet wants daughter Patience to be more ladylike, her husband wishes she shared his passion for etymology, but Patience dreams of playing the violin. The famous meeting on the tuffet startles Patience, but Webster the spider proves an unexpected ally. The two leave home, form a trio with Bo-Peep (an aspiring fiddler), foil a pair of thieves ("Prepare yourselves to meet your enemy," Webster threatens, "You will find me rather venomy"), and finish with an impromptu performance for King Cole. Faced with a plethora of characters with speaking lines (and quite a few lines at that), Litchfield (The Bear and the Piano) keeps the cast straight and the action easy to read, and his rich, mixed-media illustrations and period costumes strike the right light-opera note. Webster and Patience are engaging heroes, and Singer's verse sparkles. Ages 6-9. Illustrator's agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Group. (Sept.)

Gr 1-3--Many have thought that poor little Miss Muffet was the sad and dainty victim of a wayward spider. Well, there's much more to her story than curds and whey and running away. Patience Muffet is tired of being asked to conform to society's norms. She is not interested in fancy clothes or arranging flowers, like her mother, nor is she interested in identifying insects, like her father. Her ambition is to master the fiddle. This greatly displeases her mother, and life becomes so miserable that Patience runs away, accompanied by none other than the spider himself! They encounter many adventures and intriguing characters during their journey to find freedom and achievement. Does Patience accomplish her goals and break the mold, or does she return to her expected role? Written as a screenplay for a musical, this picture book is very different in format and compelling. Geared toward older children, this selection would be more easily performed or enjoyed alone, rather than used as a read-aloud. There are many facets to delve into and explore. There is the meat of the story, beautifully told in verse, as well as a musical narration by a trio of observers. In addition, there are stage notes in text boxes that set the scene and conversational text in speech bubbles. All of these elements come together on each page to create a narrative that brims with life. The illustrations, rendered in mixed media, are as intriguing and diverse as the text. VERDICT A richly complex fractured fairly tale well suited for classroom sharing, performance, or readers' theater.--Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE