I would like to thank Jennifer, of the Jean Little Library, for bringing to my attention Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure, by Viviane Schwarz, illustrated by Joel Stewart (2006). It arrived via interlibrary loan last week, and we were ever so pleased to find it is just the sort of beautifully wacky and wonderful fantasy picture book that fascinates the reading grown-up and enthralls the listening child.Out in the middle of a sea, a shark says to his friend, "Lobster, I'm Scared!" Lobster has a hard time believing this, but when he hears what Shark has to say about TIGERS, he's scared too...so they decide to build a fortress. Three rocks, and a bored lobster later, a very small cuttlefish comes to investigate, and wants to help. So she brings her friends and relations, who bring their piano, and the fortress building moves on apace.
But will rock walls keep out TIGERS? Is more needed? Yes! They need a scarier monster, to scare the tigers away. So down into the abyss they all dive, and they find a monster to scare all monsters, and they haul it back up, and...
Gosh, I love this book! The expressions on the faces, the absurdity of the plot, the wonderful, fantastical over-the-topness.
So thanks, Jennifer! You made our reading week. And for more fun, check out the review at Bookie Woogie.
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We discovered it recently too, and I was loving it just like you for all the same reasons...until they brought up that monster. Thinking about it still gives me the creeps. The legs, those high-heeled shoes....My six year old didn't seem mind though.
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