"Of course, in time, my delicate
beauty caught the eye of the
admiral's ridiculous son. And
as he stood transfixed, he was
suddenly, swiftly ...
... swallowed by a giant frog.
GULP!"
The first two books done in collaboration with one another, (Special Delivery, 2015 and The Only Fish in the Sea, 2017), are terrific companions to this new escapade by Philip C. Stead and Matthew Cordell.
A raucous knocking at the front door surprises Sadie and the chickens as they are about to serve morning tea to Aunt Josephine. Aunt J is having none of it, although she does speculate on who might be at the door.
"It could be a vacuum salesman. Or more likely,
a suitor. But I tell you this! I am quite satisfied
with the state of my carpets. And my days of
romance are but a memory. I have run life's
race and have earned my rest."
She goes on to regale her niece with wild events from her past, all of which are highly emotional and hard-to-believe. The knocking persists, and so does Aunt Josephine's tall tale. Her story includes chasing a frog big enough to eat a young boy, a bathtub ride, being lost in the middle of the ocean, running into pirates off the Canary Islands (which did house a large number of canaries), and riding a whale ... all in pursuit of that gigantic frog. After many years involving world travel and a constant search, she never did find that frog. Or did she?
"Well, Aunt J, there's always hope."
Funny, full of mayhem and complemented by Matt Cordell's exuberant, detailed scenes, this is a story sure to please those who read the first two, and those who have not. What an ending!
No comments:
Post a Comment