Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker 
by Jessica Ahlberg; illustrated by the author. Candlewick Press, 2016. 28 pages; $15.99 (hardcover); reading level: ages 2-5.
When Lucy’s dog, Mr. Barker, loses interest in the story she’s reading to him he leaps out of her bedroom window through a cut-out in the page. Lucy follows him through successive cut-outs into a series of familiar fairy tale worlds: a house with a golden-haired girl (where three bears chase them away), three pigs in a house built of straw (where a wolf chases them away), an oversized house with a boy holding a goose (where a giant chases them away), and finally a room with a princess who is sound asleep (where a bad fairy chases them away). Lucy and the characters she’s rescued land safely back in her room where they shut their pursuers outside the window and settle in for a quiet bedtime story. About a troll. The first few read-throughs will give young listeners a chance to guess what fairy tale world they’ve landed in; subsequent readings will provide the opportunity to linger over the dozens of details in Ahlberg’s delightfully busy watercolor illustrations. The pages are extra sturdy and a leap through each clever cut-out (a window, a door, a hole in some Swiss cheese,) provides a backward peek at the danger just escaped. The resourceful Lucy renders some age-old bogey men (and women!) a bit less fearsome…just in time for bed.
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Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge, Author
Biography | View
- Just Fine They Way They Are (Calkins Creek, March 1, 2011)
- The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion Books, 2010)
- Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson! (Holiday House, 2005; Berndtsdotter Books, 2012)
- When Esther Morris Headed West (Holiday House, 2001)
- The Legend of Strap Buckner (Holiday House, 2001)
- Wicked Jack (Holiday House, 1995)
Speaker / Presenter
Connie is an experienced speaker and presenter who enjoys sharing her passion for writing and her experience as a writer with readers and writers of all ages. She has presented to students, community, civic and professional organizations, writing groups, library audiences, and seniors – wherever book lovers gather!
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