Ol' Bloo's Boogie-Woogie Band and Blues Ensemble

Description

Ol' Bloo Donkey is dreaming of retirement, but he's got something different in mind than Farmer Brown. Ol' Bloo has spent year after year hauling cotton and dreaming of the day when he could retire from the fields and become a honky-tonk singer. But when he overhears Farmer Brown's ominously permanent retirement plan for him, Ol' Bloo decides it's time to hit the road. Brayin' and hee-hawin' his way toward the bright lights of New Orleans, Ol' Bloo meets up with Gnarly Dog, One-Eyed Lemony Cat, and Rusty Red Rooster, all eager to join him for a lucrative second career. But when the ragtag quartet stumbles upon a tumbledown shack occupied by a band of thieves, their plans take a sudden and unexpected turn... Jan Huling's down-home retelling of Grimm's "The Bremen Town Musicians" set along the Texas-Louisiana border is filled with wit and charm. Illustrator Henri S rensen's full-color paintings capture the unique backwoods setting and distinctive personalities of the characters.

Jan Huling was born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis. The author of two picture books, she is also an artist whose work is exhibited in galleries in New York and Missouri and featured in national art fairs. Huling lives in New Jersey. Henri S rensen attended the University of Arhus and the Academy of Fine Arts, both in Denmark. He has illustrated over twenty books for children and is the author-illustrator of two others. S rensen lives in Denmark.

"Bayou cadences, outre metaphors for each animal's singing and an easy way with a rueful folkloric voice make this a treasure."-Kirkus Reviews "Huling has fun with dialogue and details. . . Sorensen's oils are softly fulsome, too, focusing on the homely, comic personalities of the animals and humans."-School Library Journal "Read-aloud audiences will giggle at the dialect, nonstop action, and atmospheric descriptions of Huling's retelling."-Publishers Weekly