Little Jack Horner Live from the Corner

by Helaine Becker, Mike Boldt (Illustrator)

Old MacDonald had a dog...or some sheep...cows didn't he? Shy Little Jack Horner steps out of the corner to sign for his friends - but Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary can't stop butting in to tell the real story!

Genres: Nursery Rhymes, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Helaine Becker has written over 70 books, including the #1 National bestseller, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree,and its sequel, Dashing through the Snow, Sloth at the Zoom, Dirk Daring, Secret Agent, the Looney Bay All-Stars chapter book series, non-fiction including Counting on Katherine, Worms for Breakfast and Zoobots (all Junior Library Guild Selections), Monster Science, You Can Read, Lines Bars and Circles, and Boredom Blasters, plus many picture books and young adult novels. She also writes for children’s magazines and for children's television. Her show Dr. Greenie's Mad Lab was a finalist at MIP.com Junior in Cannes.
She has won the Lane Anderson Award for Science Writing for Children twice,once for The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea and once for The Insecto-Files, and the Picture Book of the Year Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for A Porcupine in a Pine Tree. She has also won three Silver Birch awards and a Red Cedar award.

Helaine Becker holds U.S. and Canadian citizenship. She attended high school in New York, university in North Carolina (Go Blue Devils!!!!) and now lives in Toronto with her husband and dog, Ella. She has two really handsome sons.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is difficult to rate. It got lukewarm appeal from the students after reading it aloud to a Grade 4 class. Myself, I found it hilarious! Probably because I was brought up on nursery rhymes, so this book brought back many fond memories.

Note: If you want your children to become voracious readers, then I highly recommend that your read various nursery rhymes to your preschoolers! Not only are they fun, but they immensely help to build skills such as comprehension and reading accuracy.

I personally think that some of these students didn't have the necessary background knowledge to fully appreciate this book. Therefore, in the future, I would be sure to introduce/review necessary literature (i.e. nursery rhymes) before reading this book to children.

3.5 stars.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Jack Horner was making his singing debut. When he began his song about old MacDonald’s farm, he was heckled by Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. She kept correcting him with information about the animals on the farm. Amusing with great illustrations and a funny ending.