What Parents Should Know
Steig's artwork, with its cartoon-strip clarity and soft
colors, is inviting to the eye, and his story has both the
pacing and expectancy to keep readers absorbed.
Common Sense Media Review
Few writers rival Steig when it comes to short but
compelling stories. His work is gentle, yet he keeps the
reader's imagination hopping with clever twists of plot and
resourceful, often courageous, actions by characters. Steig
doesn't shrink from challenging words--"the fox caressed the
new tooth with his tongue"--and at times they can be outright
demanding. But his humor, which is tinder-dry, guarantees an
attentive audience.
Steig's artwork is lyrical, washed with color, and imbued with a tangible presence. One four-year-old kept touching the page as if to see whether the images, cartoony as they are, were real. The characters float on the white background of the page, which sets off their expressions like firecrackers. And what marvelous expressions they are, signaling to the reader exactly how a character is feeling.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
