Allan Ahlberg

The adventures of various nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters are retold in backward sequence with each tale interrelated to the other. Includes Goldilocks, Jack and the beanstalk, Jack and Jill, the frog prince, Cinderella, and the gingerbread man.

"What do you do when you're having an ordinary day, only to discover there's a big gray elephant (named Nathaniel) under the table? Why, you get him to help you wash the car! And the kangaroo (named Abigail) that appears under that same table can help bring in groceries. But when there are penguins in the fridge, the forks and knives are running around, and the salt and ketchup are acting up, there is only one thing to do: pack everyone in the camper...

In a dark dark streetThere is a dark dark house... They can't see their bones in the white snow but they can see a black cat... until she slips into their dark, dark cellar...

Three skeletons have a good time on their sailing vacation, until their boat is boarded by pirates.

Catching a baby in his hat sets off a series of adventures for a young nineteenth-century English boy as he becomes a sea captain and finds a surprising mate.

It is an exciting couple of days for the Gaskitt family and their community--with missing pets, an unusual substitute teacher, and a special addition to their household.

Nineteen impishly illustrated poems present a unique cast of babies and witches, sausages and robbers, and a few favorite nursery-rhyme characters sure to entice everybody who ever was a baby.

Grandma tells Michael, Hannah, and their baby brother the story of three children who shrink to such a small size that they decide to live in a snail's shell.

Bert receives a disastrous haircut, loses his dog, and discovers that there are many other Berts in the world.

Rhymed text and illustrations invite the reader to play "I Spy" with a variety of Mother Goose and other folklore characters.