Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Howard Fine - review

Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Howard Fine
This is not a bedtime book. This is not a book for the gentle reader. No, Snoring Beauty is a book for a person who can SNORE like a DRAGON. It's a book for the person who really enjoyed reading Ruby Sings the Blues, and Carolinda Clatter!, and The Worm Family.

In short, this is a book for the fee-fi-fo-fummer in your family.

And it's FUNNY. Oversize personalities, hearing impairment, nutty names (Umpudine! I'm going to name our next pet that!), and did I mention the snoring? The art is also funny (and beautiful, done in rich watercolors) - each face is full of life, with exaggerated features that made me think of Tenniel's Red Queen, or Gothic caricatures. Howard Fine was the best thing about All Aboard the Dinotrain and Ding Dong, Ding Dong, but in Bruce Hale, he has met his match! I hope they make fifty books together.

Like most folk / fairy tales, it's a bit long on text, so pick this up for kids maybe 4 and up.