Boo Stew by Donna L. Washington, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. Peachtree, 2021. 9781682632215
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5
Format: Hardcover
What did you like about the book: A Goldilocks fractured fairy tale to delight young readers with a diverse cast of characters and wonderful illustrations. Curly Locks, with a can do attitude, loves to cook. But the townsfolk tend to run the other way when she offers up her concoctions. Meanwhile, Toadsuck Swamp is full of Scares, who come out at night and make lots of noise. One night Curly Locks leaves a pan of lizard skin lasagna out and when she returns home, she finds it licked clean. The next day the Scares are sighted at the Mayor’s house. Both the blacksmith and the chicken rancher tries to get them to move on but to no avail. As chaos breaks out in town, Curly Locks decides to make Boo Stew for the Scares. Once they’ve devoured it and filled their bellies, they quit making noises all night so the townsfolk can sleep and the swamp stays quiet. Curly is very pleased; she finally has someone who enjoys her cooking!
Anything you didn’t like about it? No
To whom would you recommend this book? A wonderful read aloud to share as a family around Halloween time. It would also be great to read in elementary class to compare and contrast a variety of fairy tales.
Who should buy this book? Preschools, day cares, elementary schools, home and public libraries
Where would you shelve it ? Picture books
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Julie Durmis, J.C. Solmonese Elementary School, Norton, MA
Date of review: November 26, 2021
Youth Services Book Review 
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