Miss Muffet, or What Came After by Marilyn Singer- NO

Singer, Marilyn. Miss Muffet, or What Came After, PICTURE BOOK. Clarion Books, 2016. $16.99. Written as if through acts in a play, we hear Miss Muffet’s story of what happens after she meets the spider. According to this story, Miss Muffet loves to play the violin and her mother doesn’t like that. Miss Muffet decides to run away to pursue her dream with a music-loving spider she just met. Along the way they run into Little Bo Peep, who also happens to be a violinist. They become friends and play lovely music, which the spider (who can talk) sings to. They eventually become a trio after thwarting a theft and end up at the castle, playing for the king. This story was much too convoluted. There was too much going on with the stage directions, singing chorus, and much too lengthy soliloquies. I could barely hang in there to finish it, I can’t imagine a younger reader doing so. EL- NO. Reviewed by Shay. School Librarian