Kathy Z. Price

ANNOTATION
A Cajun retelling of the classic tale of four animals, past their prime, who set out together to become musicians.

FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this rollicking retelling of “The Bremen Town Musicians,” a creaky old jack mule, a droopy hound dog, a ragged rooster, and a bony cat, all unwanted and no longer loved, set out for Bourbon Street in New Orleans to play bebop and make their fortune. Presently they encounter a band of thieves in a shack by a bayou, and though things don’t turn out quite as expected, they end up mighty fine just the same. Glossary.

AWARDS
2003 Notable Book Award National Council of Teachers of English, Children’s Literature Assembly

Best Children’s Books of the Year 2003, Bank Street College

ALA Booklist Starred Review

FROM THE CRITICS
"First-time author Price spices up a standard with her Cajun-flavored take on The Bremen Town. Price crafts a rollicking narrative with a Southern twang that trips off the tongue, and Glass comes up with some memorable characters."

Publisher's Weekly

"The four old heroes of the Bremen Town Musicians are moved to Cajun country, offering an enrichment of the language of the story along with a juicier, more noise and action-filled tale, complete with sound effects. For 'grasshoppers played fiddle on their knees...' as the braying old mule sets out for Bourbon Street to play the trumpet. He invites the howling hound, the crowing rooster, and the yowling cat, all too old for their current jobs, to join him, 'Sho' nuff.' They not only get their supper by surprising some thieves with their 'music,' but they get a shack to live in, 'As grass is green, sho' nuff, y'all.' Glass's scraggy portraits of the quartet on the jacket/cover only hint at the folksy fun inside. His black outlines wiggle and knot as they describe the foursome, the roughnecks, and their laughter-provoking adventures. A glossary is included. 2002, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin."