Old Cricket

Old Cricket tells his missus why he can't fix the roof -- "I woke with a creak in my knee, dear wife."

He tells Cousin Katydid why he can't pick berries -- "I woke with a creak in my knee and a crick in my neck."

He tells Uncle Ant why he can't harvest corn -- "I woke with a creak in my knee, a crick in my neck, and a crack in my back....I'm off to see Doc Hopper."

But before he gets there, Old Crow comes calling. "Caw-caw-caw," he says, hungrily. And caw is one C-word Old Cricket can't relish.

The creators of Sailor Moo present a second critter comedy, full of wordplay and antic animation.

Amazon.com Review
Old Cricket didn't get to be a ripe old age "by being a dumb bug." No, sir. When his wife asks him to ready their roof for the winter, he fakes a knee injury to weasel out of it. When she sends him off to Doc Hopper, he hobbles out of the house "with a creak-creak-creak in case his missus was watching." On his way, he meets up with his cousin Katydid, who needs help with some berry-picking. He fakes yet another ailment--a crick in his neck--and wobbles off "with a creak-creak-creak, and a crick-crick-crick, in case Katydid was watching." All (meaning Old Cricket's nap) would have gone according to plan, surely, if the bug didn't encounter Old Crow, a bird who didn't get to be a ripe old age "by being a birdbrain." Old Crow wants to eat Old Cricket, and by the time our leggy anti-hero escapes the crow's clutches, the conniving cricket has developed some very real ailments. The team behind the wonderful Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea succeeds again in creating a delightfully clever read-aloud with plenty of rhythm, repetition, and winning wordplay. Ponder Goembel's skillful, larger-than-life illustrations (my, what hairy legs the crickets have!) suit the good-natured fable to a T. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

---

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Old Cricket a perpetual favorite, 2008-08-09
For those of you who run storytimes for prek- 2nd grade and are doing a bug/insect theme, this book is an excellent read-a-loud selection. It has enough suspense and drama to draw the children into the story and also has a repetitious aside that the children pick up immediately. So you have the combination of a great read-a-loud/participation story all rolled into one. I heartly recommend this book for a prek-2nd grade storytime.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

No dumb bug, 2007-06-15
This book is absolutely my favorite to read to my kids. Stories that I can make come to life and create some adreneline in them are fabulous and this one certainly does it. We stumbled across it at the library and I HAD to order it -- not to be found in a brick and mortar book store. Get it today! You'll be reading it forever!

Check out "Storms Comin" too.


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Crick a little, crack a little, crick crick crick (crick a lot, creak a little more), 2005-08-18
There are few things I like better in this world than finding a great new read-aloud picture book for my library storytimes. Maybe Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, but that's about it. For me, a book that reads well to large screaming hoards of five-year-olds is worth its weight in gold. I don't know how I missed the publication of "Old Cricket" back in 2003, but I give you my solemn word of honor that it will rarely find itself anywhere but in my finest storytime collection from now on.

On a fine clear morning Old Cricket wakes up on the wrong side of bed. He's feeling particularly cantankerous and his missus tells him in no uncertain terms to fix the roof. "You don't get to be an old cricket by being a dumb bug" the text informs us, so Cricket makes up an imaginary creak in his knee to get out of the job. While en route to the doctor (or so his wife thinks) he meets up with his cousin, Katydid. She asks him to help pick some berries off the bush, but Old Cricket adds a fake crick in his neck to accompany the supposed creak in his knee. You see where this is going. Ants ask him to help them bring in the last of the corn and a crack in his back is the additional malady. It's only when he meets up with Old Crow who wants to eat him that his tricks no longer work ("You don't get to be an old crow by being a birdbrain") and he develops every physical ailment that he invented in the process of running away. In the end, Cricket does visit Doc Hopper (who's name will remind certain members of my generation of the villain in "The Muppet Movie", I'm sure) and is cured. So it's homeward to fix the roof and a happy ending for one and all.

The text reads aloud beautifully with lots of different voices, plenty of "cricks" "creaks" and "cracks" to sound out the text, and a fast-paced chase sequence for those who weren't paying attention at the beginning. Author Lisa Wheeler has slowly been making a name for herself and I look forward to reading other titles of hers like "Sailor Moo". The repetition in this book works beautifully for younger readers and I daresay this would make an excellent storytelling tale sans book if it came to that.

Not that you should forget about the gorgeous pictures accompanying the text. Rendered in acrylic paints, artist Ponder Goembel (who's first name I may well steal for my own child someday) throws her back into this book. Every animal here is rendered realistically with a kind of gently shaded sheen. Leaves sport natural holes and bites, and though every animal (with the exception of the nudist ants) wears clothing in this tale, it never looks unnatural or out of place. Old Cricket, for example, doffs a worn red cap and what looks to be a fisherman's vest when he goes out into the world. I especially enjoyed the little details that appeared here and there. Old Cricket has only one antennae, a fact that becomes crystal clear when he and the missus (also lacking that particular protuberance) pose in a final touching shot. Even if your child is not reading on their own yet, they'll be delightedly poring through this book for hours and hours on end.

I certainly hope that "Old Cricket" won itself a fair share of awards the year it came out. This book needs to be on every reading list in the country for kids below the age of... oh say.... 72. Funny, fine, and frantic, it is the kind of book every author of folktales hopes to write and so few actually do.



1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A true keeper, 2005-07-22
This book was absolutely great. My 7 year old thought it was funny and we had a lot of fun in the creak-creak-creak and the crick-crick-cricks. Besides being an entertaining story, the underlying message about excuses and what goes around comes around couldn't be better.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Wonderful!, 2003-07-30
Old Cricket is a delight! Having read Wheeler's other books, this one was another jewel to add to our growing home library. You don't get to be a smart cooky unless you read the best books, and Wheeler knows exactly what we like!

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.