Name: Anonymous 2008-07-18 16:31
This book has got to be THE WORST children's book I have EVER read. It begins with an ugly little girl in a red knit hat, named Toby, being inexplicably LAUNCHED from her parent's wagon (what appears to be 500 feet into the air) and landing in the forest. There she encounters FIERCE animals: a hungry wolf, a ferocious cougar, a nasty skunk, a threatening porcupine, and an enormous bear. Each animal describes how they want to eat her or do her harm. To save herself from danger, Toby strips off her clothes (piece by piece) giving one article of clothing to each animal in exchange for her safety until she is left in nothing but her long underwear. While showing off their new clothes, the animals argue with each other over WHO is "the grandest beast". They chase each other around a tree until they finally melt into syrup at the base of the tree. Toby retrieves her clothes and is found by her parents. They decide to have pancakes in the woods. Toby collects syrup from the tree and proceeds to eat 159 pancakes because she is SO hungry! Like most children his age, my 5 year old son LOVES animals. Normally when I read a new story to him and we come to the end he pleads with me to read it again. "Again, again Mommy". When I read this story to him at bedtime he was very quiet. He didn't say a word. When I saw how he was visibly disturbed by the story I said, "This is the dumbest story I ever read". To which he answered, "Yeah Mommy. Let's take it back to the store and get something else" - which is EXACTLY what I did.