| "Caleb is a
carpenter who takes a nap in the forest and is switched by a witch
into a nice, big dog. How can he explain this to his dear
wife? She doesn't understand barking. She doesn't even realize
that the stray dog she has taken in is her husband. Steig has
written a charming story with a rich vocabulary and outstanding
illustrations." --Gene Shalit, The Today Show
"A joy to have on the
bookshelf. Both parents and children will read and reread Caleb
& Kate." --The New York Times Book Review
"In a text as
imaginative and skillful as his extraordinary color illustrations,
Steig tells the comic, touching story of Caleb and his wife."
-- Publishers Weekly
"Steig is a superb
artist with the literary ingenuity to produce durable, energetic
stories." --The Horn Book
Awards
National Book Award Finalist
ALA Notable Book
Horn Book
Fanfare
New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the
Year
New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year
Reviews
Booklist
- *starred review
Not Sylvester turned into a stone, but crusty farmer Caleb turned
into a dog after a spat with wife Kate sends him on a cool-off walk
in the forest and witch Yedida finds him snoozing: "Ammy
whammy, / Ibbin bammy, / This is now / A bow-wow-wow." The
stunned Caleb heads home unrecognized and powerless to ease his
wife's distress. Over time their altered lives settle into a routine
that's only broken eight months later when robbers inadvertently
lift the spell: they wound the fiercely barking Caleb on the
"toe that had been the finger through which the witch Yedida
had worked her spell." Steig refurbishes his recycled plot with
an inimitable wit that marks both incident and writing style:
"Whenever their friends came calling, Kate would show off her
dog. He enjoyed these gatherings, the human conversation, but he
didn't like to have his head patted by his old cronies." Pen
and wash drawings are familiar in style, their hues this time
dominated by earthy browns, greens, and ochres. Facial expressions,
human or animal, are not to be missed.
|
Caleb
& Kate