Jim Copp, Will You Tell Me a Story?: Three Uncommonly Clever Tales - Hardcover

JIM COPP (1913-1999) is best known for the children's records he wrote, performed, produced, and distributed through his own label, Playhouse Records. LINDSAY duPONT has illustrated everything from children's books to tissue boxes. She lives in New York. 

Grade 2–4—This collection contains three short stories that were originally recordings by Copp, who died in 1999. The humorous tales, some rhyming, have definite kid appeal. In the first, feisty Kate Higgins refuses to take her medicine and suffers the consequences in the morning. Anyone who has had a mean teacher will appreciate "Miss Goggins and the Gorilla," in which a fourth-grade class is saved from a cruel teacher by a visitor in a gorilla suit. In the last story, forgetful Martha Matilda O'Toole has to keep returning home to get school supplies she's left behind-until her teacher reminds her that it is Sunday. A note at the end explains how Copp used a painstaking overdubbing technique to produce all of the voices and sound effects in his recordings. DuPont's pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are a perfect match for the quirky stories. In addition, the use of different fonts helps to read the selections with expression, though the illustrations are too small to be used with a large group. Copp's narration on the accompanying CD are a refreshing contrast to the commercialized sound of much of today's children's music. Give this to fans of Shel Silverstein's poems and anticipate requests for more of Copp's recordings (which are still available).—Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
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