Simms Taback's Great Big Book of Spacey, Snakey, Buggy Riddles - Hardcover

Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg have collaborated on nineteen riddle books. Ms. Hall lives in New York City; Ms. Eisenberg lives in Ithaca, New York.

Simms Taback won the Caldecott Medal for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat and a Caldecott Honor for There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. His most recent book, I Miss You Every Day, was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Ventura, California.

Taback brings his vibrant trademark exuberance to this picture-book riddle collection, which fairly hums with fun. Rainbow-bright colors pop off black backgrounds, making the riddles bigger than life. As the title suggests, space, snakes, and bugs dominate the subject matter (though Santa Claus and the occasional dog make an appearance). Every riddle enjoys a page to itself, affording Taback room to build visual clues into the pictures. When readers are asked “What kind of jacket would you wear on the sun?” they’ll see a young boy dressed in an oversize, blue sport coat, which may lead them to “A blazer,” even before they read the word for themselves. Put together with such visual assistance, the collection will reach a younger audience than some riddle books; but however satisfying the deciphering, the real joy in riddles comes from the torture that is sure to be inflicted on others; kids will subject everyone around them to the words and pictures, reveling in their knowledge of the joke. Grades K-3. --Thom Barthelmess