Book 193: One Hundred Shoes

One Hundred Shoes, by Charles Ghigna, illustrated by Bob Staake, Random House 2002.  Preschool and Early Elementary.

Yesterday, my four-year-old son spotted his first millipede.  (My husband called it a centipede -- Thank goodness for Google!)  Anyway, the multi-footed creature soon became a math topic.  And that math topic led to me finding this book. 

Although my little boy can read only a few words on his own, we have started incorporating "easy readers" into his story times.  They tend to be shorter, so instead of reading three books, we can easily read five books in the same amount of time.  They also tend to feature repetition and showcase certain words so that kids can learn to read on their own.  They can also be really boring for the adult reader.  Two things save One Hundred Shoes from falling into that final category:  Charles Ghigna's wit and Bob Staake's artwork. 

One Hundred Shoes is a clever and rather sweet book in poem.  Charles Ghigna creates such wonderful "word pictures" that the poem could stand alone without illustration.  He also, however, creates such marvelous phrases that a talented illustrator can walk right in (pun intended), and Bob Staake does. 

Bob Staake takes the witty phrases and amplifies them to the point of the hilarious with his brilliant and silly illustrations.  Every pages vibrates with activity and humor, but, as a Chucks girl, I have to say that my favorite two-page spread has the sneakers on it.