While the Shepherd Slept

PreSchool-Grade 3-- A simple, funny book. While the shepherd sleeps during the day, his flock of gifted sheep nibble their way to town where, at the Baa-Baa-Broadway vaudeville theatre, they provide the talent for a matinee. This entertainment includes slapstick, torch songs, and breathtaking suspense, as well as a chorus line. They then return to the shepherd, who praises them for not wandering. When his flock is safely bedded down for the night, he takes his turn on stage where "he danced until dawn." These furtive performers are wonderfully captured in illustrations of soft colored pencil. The sheep appear a bit portly for the amount of energy they expend, but that is part of the visual high jinks. Typical tin pan alley humor surfaces behind the scenes as well as on stage. Children may not pick up all of the references to vaudeville, but the absurdity of "pulling the wool over the eyes" by all the headliners will surely bring applause. This will be good for story hours, although one or two of the pictures may not translate well from any distance. --Carolyn Vang Schuler, Monroe County Library System, Rochester, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.