Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Taming of Lola: A Shrew Story
Illustrator: Jerry Smath
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2010 ISBN: 978-0810940666
Lola is a shrew who lives with her large family in a cunning little home under a large tree. Though Lola is a very small shrew, she has an enormous temper. She is so bad-tempered in fact that her siblings stay away from her, and after a while everyone starts giving in to her demands because it is the easiest thing to do.
One day Lola’s cousin Lester comes to visit and Lester is so rude and so obnoxious that even Lola is shocked. She gets so annoyed that she tells Lester off, and soon the two young shrews are screeching at each other. They fight about which beds they are going to sleep in, about who is the bigger “foo-face,” and numerous other things. In fact they fight so much that they miss meals and they don’t have any fun.
In this funny picture book we meet two very badly behaved shrew children who learn an important lesson about learning to get along with others. Young readers will enjoy seeing how the two difficult shrews come to an agreement that seems to survive the test of time.
